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Political thought and political instinct prove themselves theoretically and practically in the ability to distinguish friend and enemy. The high points of politics are simultaneously the moments in which the enemy is, in concrete clarity, recognized as the enemy.

— Carl Schmitt The Concept of the Political (1927)

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More quotes by Carl Schmitt

Sovereign is he who decides on the exception.

Political Theology (1922)

All law is "situational law." The sovereign produces and guarantees the situation in its totality. He has the monopoly over this last decision.

Political Theology (1922)

The specific political distinction to which political actions and motives can be reduced is that between friend and enemy.

The Concept of the Political (1927)

The concept of the state presupposes the concept of the political.

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A definition of the political can be obtained only by discovering and defining the specifically political categories.

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Attribution

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