Ernest Renan

War is a condition of progress; the whip-cut that prevents a country from going to sleep and forces satisfied mediocrity to shake off its apathy.

The simplest schoolboy is now familiar with truths for which Archimedes would have sacrificed his life.

The man who obeys is nearly always better than the man who commands.

The talent of historians lies in their creating a true ensemble out of facts which are but half-true.

The epic disappeared along with the age of personal heroism; there can be no epic with artillery.

Good-humor is a philosophic state of mind; it seems to say to Nature that we take her no more seriously than she takes us.

Man makes holy what he believes as he makes beautiful what he loves.

Religion is not a popular error; it is a great instinctive truth, sensed by the people, expressed by the people.

Fanatics fear liberty more than they fear persecution.

Poems