Eugène Edine Pottier Quotes

Eugène Edine Pottier was a French revolutionary, anarchist, socialist, poet, freemason and transport worker.

Pottier was elected a member of the Paris municipal council - the Paris Commune, in March 1871. Following the Commune's defeat, in June 1871 he wrote the poem L'Internationale, which became the International Workingmen's Association anthem during its last years , and has been used by most socialist and left-wing political internationals since. The Encyclopedia of Mass Persuasion deems the anthem "one of the best-known propaganda songs since La Marseillaise". After writing the poem, Pottier went into exile but later returned to France, dying penniless.

Fifteen years after the Communards were crushed in blood by the Versaillais , Eugène Pottier dedicated the following hymn to their revolution:



On l'a tuée à coups de chassepot,

A coups de mitrailleuse,

Et roulée avec son drapeau

Dans la terre argileuse.

Et la tourbe des bourreaux gras

Se croyait la plus forte.

Tout ça n'empêche pas, Nicolas

Qu'la Commune n'est pas morte.

An approximate translation of which is:



They killed her with their chassepot,

With their machine guns,

And rolled her with its flag

In the clay.

And the mud of the fat hangmen

thought they had prevailed.

And with all that, Nicolas,

The Commune is not dead.

Vladimir Lenin acknowledged the 25th anniversary of Pottier's death in a 1913 article in Pravda.

During his exile in New York City , Eugène Pottier was received at Les Égalitaires lodge in New York. In his cover letter, he said that Freemasonry "is composed of a group of freethinkers who, having made a clean sweep on tradition and recognizing nothing superior to human reason, consciously dedicate themselves in search of Truth and Justice". Wikipedia  

✵ 4. October 1816 – 6. November 1887
Eugène Edine Pottier photo
Eugène Edine Pottier: 8   quotes 0   likes

Famous Eugène Edine Pottier Quotes

“The State oppresses and the law cheats.
Tax bleeds the unfortunate.
No duty is imposed on the rich;
The rights of the poor is an empty phrase.
Enough languishing in custody!
Equality wants other laws:
No rights without duties, she says,
Equally, no duties without rights.”

L'État comprime et la loi triche
L'impôt saigne le malheureux
Nul devoir ne s'impose au riche
Le droit du pauvre est un mot creux
C'est assez, languir en tutelle
L'égalité veut d'autres lois
Pas de droits sans devoirs dit-elle
Égaux, pas de devoirs sans droits
The Internationale (1864)

“Workers, peasants, we are
The great party of labourers.
The earth belongs only to men;
The idle will go to reside elsewhere.
How much of our flesh have they consumed?
But if these ravens, these vultures
Disappear one of these days,
The sun will still shine forever.”

Ouvriers, paysans, nous sommes
Le grand parti des travailleurs
La terre n'appartient qu'aux hommes
L'oisif ira loger ailleurs
Combien de nos chairs se repaissent
Mais si les corbeaux, les vautours
Un de ces matins disparaissent
Le soleil brillera toujours.
The Internationale (1864)

“They killed her with their chassepot,
With their machine guns,
And rolled her with its flag
In the clay.
And the mud of the fat hangmen
thought they had prevailed.
And with all that, Nicolas,
The Commune is not dead.”

On l'a tuée à coups de chassepot
A coups de mitrailleuse,
Et roulée avec son drapeau
Dans la terre argileuse.
Et la tourbe des bourreaux gras
Se croyait la plus forte.
Tout ça n'empêche pas, Nicolas
Qu'la Commune n'est pas morte.
Elle n'est pas morte ! (1886).

“There are no supreme saviours
Neither God, nor Caesar, nor tribune.
Producers, let us save ourselves,
Decree the common salvation.
So that the thief expires,
So that the spirit be pulled from its prison,
Let us fan our forge ourselves
Strike the iron while it is hot.”

Il n'est pas de sauveurs suprêmes
Ni Dieu, ni César, ni tribun
Producteurs, sauvons-nous nous-mêmes
Décrétons le salut commun
Pour que le voleur rende gorge
Pour tirer l'esprit du cachot
Soufflons nous-mêmes notre forge
Battons le fer quand il est chaud
The Internationale (1864)

“Hideous in their apotheosis
The kings of the mine and of the rail.
Have they ever done anything other
Than steal work?
Inside the safeboxes of the gang,
What work had created melted.
By ordering that they give it back,
The people want only their due.”

Hideux dans leur apothéose
Les rois de la mine et du rail
Ont-ils jamais fait autre chose
Que dévaliser le travail ?
Dans les coffres-forts de la bande
Ce qu'il a créé s'est fondu
En décrétant qu'on le lui rende
Le peuple ne veut que son dû.
The Internationale (1864)

“The kings made us drunk with fumes,
Peace among us, war to the tyrants!
Let the armies go on strike,
Stocks in the air, and break ranks.
If they insist, these cannibals
On making heroes of us,
They will know soon that our bullets
Are for our own generals.”

Les rois nous saoulaient de fumées
Paix entre nous, guerre aux tyrans
Appliquons la grève aux armées
Crosse en l'air, et rompons les rangs
S'ils s'obstinent, ces cannibales
À faire de nous des héros
Ils sauront bientôt que nos balles
Sont pour nos propres généraux
The Internationale (1864)

“Stand up, damned of the Earth
Stand up, prisoners of starvation
Reason thunders in its volcano
This is the eruption of the end.
Of the past let us make a clean slate
Enslaved masses, stand up, stand up.
The world is about to change its foundation
We are nothing, let us be all.”

Debout, les damnés de la terre
Debout, les forçats de la faim
La raison tonne en son cratère
C'est l'éruption de la fin
Du passé faisons table rase
Foule esclave, debout, debout
Le monde va changer de base
Nous ne sommes rien, soyons tout
The Internationale (1864)

“This is the final struggle
Let us group together, and tomorrow
The Internationale
Will be the human race”

C'est la lutte finale
Groupons-nous, et demain
L'Internationale
Sera le genre humain
The Internationale (1864)

Similar authors

François-René de Chateaubriand photo
François-René de Chateaubriand 28
French writer, politician, diplomat and historian
Pierre Joseph Proudhon photo
Pierre Joseph Proudhon 40
French politician, mutualist philosopher, economist, and so…
Victor Hugo photo
Victor Hugo 308
French poet, novelist, and dramatist
Anatole France photo
Anatole France 122
French writer
Honoré de Balzac photo
Honoré de Balzac 157
French writer
Sarah Bernhardt photo
Sarah Bernhardt 11
French actress
Alfred de Musset photo
Alfred de Musset 4
French writer
Claude Debussy photo
Claude Debussy 34
French composer
Pierre Curie photo
Pierre Curie 1
French physicist