Rene Girard Quotes on Politics
Rene Girard was a French historian, literary critic, and philosopher of social science best known for his theory of mimetic desire and the scapegoat mechanism. This page collects quotes attributed to Rene Girard on the topic of politics, drawn from across the philosopher's works.
Quotes
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Attributed to Rene Girard:
“Violence is the heart and secret soul of the sacred.”
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Attributed to Rene Girard:
“Two desires converging on the same object are bound to clash.”
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Attributed to Rene Girard:
“The scapegoat mechanism becomes intelligible the moment it ceases to function.”
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“Battling to the End: Conversations with Benoit Chantre (Michigan State University Press, 2009), ch.1, §3.”
The aggressor has always already been attacked. Why are relations of rivalry never seen as symmetrical? Because people always have the impression that the other is the first to attack, that they are never the ones who begin, though in a way they are always the ones. Individualism is a formidable lie. We make others understand that we recognize the signs of aggressiveness which they manifest, and t -
“Anorexia and Mimetic Desire (2008), translated by Mark R Anspach (2013), Michigan State University Press. Pg 35”
Few people want to be saints nowadays, but everybody is trying to lose weight.