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Benito Juárez Quotes

Benito Pablo Juárez García was a Mexican lawyer and president of Mexico, of Zapotec origin from Oaxaca.

He was of poor, rural, indigenous origins, but he became a well-educated urban professional and politician who married a socially prominent woman of Oaxaca City, Margarita Maza. He identified primarily as a Liberal and wrote only briefly about his indigenous heritage.He held power during the tumultuous decade of the Liberal Reform and French invasion. In 1858 as head of the Supreme Court, he became president of Mexico by the succession mandated by the Constitution of 1857 when moderate liberal President Ignacio Comonfort was forced to resign by Mexican conservatives. Juárez remained in the presidential office until his death by natural causes in 1872. He weathered the War of the Reform , a civil war between Liberals and Conservatives, and then the French invasion , which was supported by Mexican Conservatives. Never relinquishing office although forced into exile to areas of Mexico not controlled by the French, Juárez tied Liberalism to Mexican nationalism and maintained that he was the legitimate head of the Mexican state, rather than Emperor Maximilian. When the French-backed Second Mexican Empire fell in 1867, the Mexican Republic with Juárez as president was restored to full power. In his success in ousting the European incursion, Latin Americans considered his a "second struggle for independence, a second defeat for the European powers, and a second reversal of the Conquest."He is now "a preeminent symbol of Mexican nationalism and resistance to foreign intervention." Juárez was a practical and skilled politician, controversial in his lifetime and beyond. He had an understanding of the importance of a working relationship with the United States, and secured its recognition for his liberal government during the War of the Reform. Although many of his positions shifted during his political life, he held fast to particular principles including the supremacy of civil power over the Catholic Church and part of the military; respect for law; and the de-personalization of political life. In his lifetime he sought to strengthen the national government and asserted the supremacy of central power over states, a position that both radical and provincial liberals opposed. He was the subject of polemical attacks both in his lifetime and beyond. However, the place of Juárez in Mexican historical memory has enshrined him as a major Mexican hero, beginning in his own lifetime.His birthday is a national public and patriotic holiday in Mexico, Juárez being the only individual Mexican so honored. Wikipedia  

✵ 21. March 1806 – 18. July 1872
Benito Juárez photo
Benito Juárez: 8   quotes 4   likes

Famous Benito Juárez Quotes

“May the people and the government respect the rights of all. Between individuals, as between nations, peace means respect for the rights of others.”

Benito Juárez

As quoted in Global History, Volume Two : The Industrial Revolution to the Age of Globalization (2008) by Jerry Weiner, Mark Willner, George A. Hero and Bonnie-Anne Briggs, p. 175
Context: Mexicans: let us now pledge all our efforts to obtain and consolidate the benefits of peace. Under its auspices, the protection of the laws and of the authorities will be sufficient for all the inhabitants of the Republic. May the people and the government respect the rights of all. Between individuals, as between nations, peace means respect for the rights of others.

“Mexicans: let us now pledge all our efforts to obtain and consolidate the benefits of peace.”

Benito Juárez

As quoted in Global History, Volume Two : The Industrial Revolution to the Age of Globalization (2008) by Jerry Weiner, Mark Willner, George A. Hero and Bonnie-Anne Briggs, p. 175
Context: Mexicans: let us now pledge all our efforts to obtain and consolidate the benefits of peace. Under its auspices, the protection of the laws and of the authorities will be sufficient for all the inhabitants of the Republic. May the people and the government respect the rights of all. Between individuals, as between nations, peace means respect for the rights of others.

“Democracy is the destiny of humanity; freedom its indestructible arm.”

Benito Juárez

As quoted by US President John F. Kennedy in a speech. (29 June 1962)

“Adversity, Citizen Deputies, discourages none but contemptible peoples”

Benito Juárez

Juarez and his Mexico : A Biographical History (1968) by Ralph Roeder, Vol. 2, p. 511
Context: Adversity, Citizen Deputies, discourages none but contemptible peoples; ours has been ennobled by great feats and we are far from being shorn of the immense obstacles, material and moral, which the country will oppose…

“There is no help but in defense but I can assure you… the Imperial Government will not succeed in subduing the Mexicans, and its armies will not have a single day of peace…”

Benito Juárez

As quoted in Hispanic Network Magazine: Vol. 17-18 (2005) http://books.google.com/books?id=Eq1FAAAAYAAJ&q=%22+Imperial+Government+will+not+succeed+in+subduing+the+Mexicans,+and+its+armies+will+not+have+a+single+day+of+peace%22&dq=%22+Imperial+Government+will+not+succeed+in+subduing+the+Mexicans,+and+its+armies+will+not+have+a+single+day+of+peace%22&hl=en&ei=sA6BTaPEJNKGtwef5pDSCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA
Context: There is no help but in defense but I can assure you... the Imperial Government will not succeed in subduing the Mexicans, and its armies will not have a single day of peace... we must stop them, not only for our country but for the respect of the sovereignty of the nations.

“In use of the broad powers with which I have been invested, I have found it proper to declare that
1. Priests of any cult who, abusing their ministry, excite hate or disrespect for our laws, our government, or its rights, will be punished by three years’ imprisonment or deportation.
2. Because of the present crisis all cathedral chapters are suppressed, except for that of Guadalajara because of its patriotic behavior.
3. Priests of all cults are forbidden from wearing their vestments or any other distinguishing garment outside of the churches… All violators will be punished with fines of ten to one hundred pesos or imprisonment from fifteen to sixty days.”

Benito Juárez

Proclamation in response to church officials openly encouraging support for French forces. (30 August 1862)

“There is one thing beyond the reach of perversity. The inevitable failure of history, she will judge us”

Benito Juárez

From the letter to Maximiliano de Habsburgo http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2006/05/28/sem-carta.html in 1864

“The government of the republic will fulfill its duty to defend its independence, to repel foreign aggression, and accept the struggle to which it has been provoked, counting on the unanimous spirit of the Mexicans and on the fact that sooner or later the cause of rights and justice will triumph.”

Benito Juárez

Proclamation to the Mexican people, shortly before the Battle of Puebla of 5 May 1862 (which is commemorated by the "Cinco de Mayo" celebrations).

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