François Guizot
François Pierre Guillaume Guizot (4 October 1787 – 12 September 1874) was a French historian, orator and statesman. Guizot was a dominant figure in French politics between the Revolution of 1830 and the Revolution of 1848.
Quotes
[edit]- Nowhere has the bourgeoisie, the tiers-état, been so completely developed, have its destinies been so vast, or its results so fruitful as in France All Europe had its communes; they were to be found in Italy, Spain, Germany, and England, just as in France. And not only were communes universal, but the communes of France are not those which, as communes, under this name and in the middle age have played the greatest part, and enjoy the highest place in history. The Italian communes gave birth to glorious republics; the German communes became free and imperial cities, which have a history of their own, and have had a great influence on the general history of Germany; the communes of England, connecting themselves with a branch of the feudal aristocracy, constitute, in conjunction with it, the influential house of the British Parliament, and early played an important part in the history of their country. The French communes in the middle age, and as they existed while bearing this name, were far from rising to the same height of political importance, or to the same historical dignity. Yet it is in France, that the population of the communes, the bourgeoisie, has been most thoroughly and efficiently developed, and has ended by acquiring the most decided preponderance in society. There have been communes in all Europe, but no true tiers-état except in France. This tiers-état, which, in 1789, brought about the French Revolution, is a destiny, a power, that belongs solely to our history, and will be vainly sought elsewhere
- Leçon i, t. 5, p. 128. Quoted in Jules Michelet's History of France, tr. G. H. Smith, vol. 1 (New York, 1882), pp. 219-20, note
- A corrupted and weakened community breaks down in immense catastrophes; the iron harrow of revolutions crushes men like the clods of the field; but, in the blood-stained furrows germinates a new generation, and the soul aggrieved, believes again.
- Reported in J. de Finod (ed.) A Thousand Flashes of French Wit, Wisdom, and Wickedness (New York: D. Appleton and Co, 1902) p. 46
External links
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Encyclopedic article on François Guizot on Wikipedia
