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Up until our own times men had only received two sorts of teaching in what concerns the relations between politics and morality. One was Plato’s and it said: “Morality decides politics”; and the other was Machiavelli’s, and it said “Politics have nothing to do with morality.” Today we receive a third. M. Maurras teaches: “Politics decide morality.”

— Julien Benda Treason of the Intellectuals (1927)

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From his loftiest pulpit the modern clerc assures man that he is great in proportion as he is practical.

Treason of the Intellectuals (1927)

That teaching according to which intellectual activity is worthy of esteem to the extent that it is practical and to that extent alone.

Treason of the Intellectuals (1927)

The modern moralists extol … the cult of practical activity in defiance of the disinterested life.

Treason of the Intellectuals (1927)

The desire to abase the values of knowledge before the values of action...

Treason of the Intellectuals (1927)

The modern clercs have created in so-called cultivated society a positive romanticism of harshness. The have also created a romanticism of contempt.

Treason of the Intellectuals (1927)

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