“We must smother the internal and external enemies of the Republic or perish with it; now in this situation, the first maxim of your policy ought to be to lead the people by reason and the people's enemies by terror.”

—  Maximilien Robespierre

Original French: Il faut étouffer les ennemis intérieurs et extérieurs de la République, ou périr avec elle ; or, dans cette situation, la première maxime de votre politique doit être qu’on conduit le peuple par la raison, et les ennemis du peuple par la terreur.
Speech to the National Convention (5 February 1794)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "We must smother the internal and external enemies of the Republic or perish with it; now in this situation, the first m…" by Maximilien Robespierre?
Maximilien Robespierre photo
Maximilien Robespierre 78
French revolutionary lawyer and politician 1758–1794

Related quotes

Richard Perle photo

“Dictators must have enemies. They must have internal enemies to justify their secret police and external enemies to justify their military forces.”

Richard Perle (1941) American government official

2005 February 17 - In a debate with DNC Chairman Howard Dean at Pacific University

Mao Zedong photo

“Why must there be a revolutionary party? There must be a revolutionary party because the world contains enemies who oppress the people and the people want to throw off enemy oppression. In the era of capitalism and imperialism, just such a revolutionary party as the Communist Party is needed. Without such a party it is simply impossible for the people to throw off enemy oppression. We are Communists, we want to lead the people in overthrowing the enemy, and so we must keep our ranks in good order, we must march in step, our troops must be picked troops and our weapons good weapons. Without these conditions the enemy cannot be overthrown.”

Mao Zedong (1893–1976) Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China

"Rectify the Party's Style of Work" (1942)
Original: (zh-CN) 为什么要有革命党？因为世界上有压迫人民的敌人存在，人民要推翻敌人的压迫，所以要有革命党。就资本主义和帝国主义时代说来，就需要一个如共产党这样的革命党。如果没有共产党这样的革命党，人民要想推翻敌人的压迫，简直是不可能的。我们是共产党，我们要领导人民打倒敌人，我们的队伍就要整齐，我们的步调就要一致，兵要精，武器要好。如果不具备这些条件，那末，敌人就不会被我们打倒。

Tom Tancredo photo

“[The War on Terror is] not a war we started, it's a war we must finish, and it's tough when your enemies are psychopaths and your allies are the French”

Tom Tancredo (1945) American politician
Natan Sharansky photo

“Now we can see why nondemocratic regimes imperil the security of the world. They stay in power by controlling their populations. This control invariably requires an increasing amount of repression. To justify this repression and maintain internal stability, external enemies must be manufactured.”

Natan Sharansky book The Case for Democracy

Page 88.
The Case for Democracy (2004, with Ron Dermer)

Richard Adams photo

“All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies. And whenever they catch you, they will kill you. But first, they must catch you; digger, listener, runner, Prince with the swift warning. Be cunning, and full of tricks, and your people will never be destroyed.”

Richard Adams book Watership Down

Watership Down (1972)

Carl Schmitt photo

“As long as the state is a political entity this requirement for internal peace compels it in critical situations to decide also upon the domestic enemy. Every state provides, therefore, some kind of formula for the declaration of an internal enemy.”

Carl Schmitt book The Concept of the Political

Source: The Concept of the Political (1927)

Sun Tzu photo

“To know your Enemy, you must become your Enemy.”

Sun Tzu (-543–-495 BC) ancient Chinese military general, strategist and philosopher from the Zhou Dynasty

This is sometimes attributed to Sun Tzu in combination with the above quote, as well as alone, but it too has not been sourced to any published translation of The Art of War, though it is similar in concept to his famous statement in Ch. 3 : "It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles..."
Misattributed

James Meade photo

“Now there are two ways in which the authorities of a particular country may combine the use of financial policy and of price adjustment. (i) First, financial policy may be used for the preservation of internal balance and price adjustment for the preservation of external balance. (ii) Second, financial policy may be used for the preservation of external balance and price adjustment for the preservation of internal balance. On either of these principles the authorities of any one country can set about the simultaneous preservation of internal and external balance.”

James Meade (1907–1995) British economist

Source: The balance of payments, 1951, p. 157; As cited in: Metaxas & Weber (2013, p. 22)

Orson Scott Card photo

“You're the sort of enemy your enemy must love.”

Orson Scott Card Hart's Hope

Hart's Hope (1983)

Bashar al-Assad photo

“[Enemies of Syria] are the enemies of the people and the enemies of God. And the enemies of God will go to hell.”

Bashar al-Assad (1965) President of Syria

As quoted by Holly Yan et. al. Al-Assad touts plan for resolution, says enemies of Syria 'will go to hell' http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/06/world/meast/syria-civil-war/?hpt=hp_t1, CNN (Jan. 17, 2013)

Related topics