Benjamin Constant Quotes
Henri-Benjamin Constant de Rebecque was a Swiss-French political philosopher, novelist, and statesman and one of the founding theorists of modern liberalism. After an erratic early career and a long and famous association with Madame de Stael, he served in the French legislature under the Restoration and the July Monarchy. The quotes below are attributed to Benjamin Constant, organized by topic.
Browse Benjamin Constant by topic
Benjamin Constant on Death
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“Diversity is life; uniformity is death.”
Quoted in Robert Tombs, France 1814–1914 , 62.
Benjamin Constant on Freedom
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Attributed to Benjamin Constant:
“The liberty of the ancients was the active sharing in collective sovereignty; the liberty of the moderns is the security of private enjoyments.”
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Attributed to Benjamin Constant:
“The variety of opinion is at least as necessary as the variety of bread.”
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“The aim of the ancients was the sharing of social power among the citizens of the same fatherland: this is what they called liberty. The aim of the moderns is the enjoyment of liberty in private pleasures, and they call “liberty” the guarantees accorded by institutions to these pleasures.”
The Liberty of Ancients Compared with that of Moderns " (1819) -
“The Liberty of Ancients Compared with that of Moderns " (1819)”
The aim of the ancients was the sharing of social power among the citizens of the same fatherland: this is what they called liberty. The aim of the moderns is the enjoyment of liberty in private pleasures, and they call “liberty” the guarantees accorded by institutions to these pleasures.
Benjamin Constant on God
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Attributed to Benjamin Constant:
“Religion accompanies man through the storms of life.”
Benjamin Constant on Knowledge
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“Je ne suis pas la rose, mais j’ai vécu avec elle.”
Translation: I am not the rose, but I have lived near it. | A. Hayward, Autobiography and Letters of Mrs. Piozzi, Introduction. -
“Translation: I am not the rose, but I have lived near it.”
Je ne suis pas la rose, mais j’ai vécu avec elle. -
“A. Hayward, Autobiography and Letters of Mrs. Piozzi, Introduction.”
Je ne suis pas la rose, mais j’ai vécu avec elle.
Benjamin Constant on Politics
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Attributed to Benjamin Constant:
“Modern man can no longer be a citizen in the ancient sense.”
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Attributed to Benjamin Constant:
“Government has no right except for the maintenance of order.”