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To rule the imperial population, behold our vocation.

— Ernest Renan The Intellectual and Moral Reform of France (1871)

Regere imperio populos, voilà notre vocation.

Original text (French)

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Notes from Wikiquote

94

More quotes by Ernest Renan

In morals, truth is but little prized when it is a mere sentiment, and only attains its full value when realized in the world as fact.

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Communism is in conflict with human nature.

It has become a hackneyed truth by now to say that the world is governed by ideas.

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The greatest men of a nation are often those whom it puts to death.

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"Endeavour to be beautiful, and then do at every moment that with which your heart will inspire you;" that is morality in a nutshell.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Ernest Renan (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.