Crime butchers innocence to secure a throne, and innocence struggles with all its might against the attempts of crime. – Maximilien Robespierre
To punish the oppressors of humanity is clemency; to forgive them is cruelty. – Maximilien Robespierre
Any institution which does not suppose the people good, and the magistrate corruptible, is evil. – Maximilien Robespierre
Any law which violates the inalienable rights of man is essentially unjust and tyrannical; it is not a law at all. – Maximilien Robespierre
The secret of freedom lies in educating people, whereas the secret of tyranny is in keeping them ignorant. – Maximilien Robespierre
Terror is only justice: prompt, severe and inflexible; it is then an emanation of virtue; it is less a distinct principle than a natural consequence of the general principle of democracy, applied to the most pressing wants of the country. – Maximilien Robespierre
Atheism is aristocratic; the idea of a great Being that watches over oppressed innocence and punishes triumphant crime is altogether popular. – Maximilien Robespierre
Again, it may be said, that to love justice and equality the people need no great effort of virtue; it is sufficient that they love themselves. – Maximilien Robespierre
The general will rules in society as the private will governs each separate individual. – Maximilien Robespierre
