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Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet (September 27, 1627 – April 12, 1704) was a French bishop, theologian, and court preacher. Bossuet was one of the first to advocate the theory of political absolutism; he made the argument that government was divine and that kings received their power from God.
- Nature, or to speak in more Christian fashion, God, the common Father of men, from the outset gave equal rights to all his children to all the things they needed to preserve their lives. None of us can boast of being more privileged than the rest by nature; but through the insatiable desire to amass wealth, it became impossible for this beautiful brotherhood to endure for long in the world. Men had to resort to division and possession, which resulted in constant quarrels and litigation; of this were born the words 'mine' and 'thine'—such cold terms, as the admirable St. John Chrysostom remarks—of this, too, was born the great diversity of conditions, some living in affluence in every respect, others languishing in penury.
- "Panegyric in honor of St. Francis of Assisi" (4 Oct. 1655), as quoted in The Bourgeois: Catholicism vs. Capitalism in Eighteenth-Century France (1968), p. 84
- Il faut aller jusqu'á l'horreur quand on se connaît.
- To know one's self, one must go all the way to horror.
- Letter to Marshal de Bellefonds (3 March 1674), in Œuvres complètes de Bossuet, Vol. XXVI, ed. F. Lachet (Paris: Louis Vivès, 1864), p. 166
- [L]e monde même vous désabuse du monde.
- The world itself makes you sick of the world.
- "Sermon pour la profession de Madame de la Vallière" (1675), in Œuvres complètes de Bossuet, Vol. XI, ed. F. Lachat (Paris: Louis Vivès, 1863), p. 578
- La foi est une adhérence du cœur à la vérité éternelle.
- Faith is an adherence of the heart to eternal truth.
- "Exhortation aux nouvelles Catholiques" (1685), in Œuvres complètes de Bossuet, Vol. X, ed. F. Lachat (Paris: Louis Vivès, 1863), p. 471
- [L]es hérésies n'ont jamais été que des opinions particulières, puisqu'elles ont commencé par cinq ou six hommes.
- Heresies have never been more than particular opinions, since they began with five or six men.
- "Avertissement aux Protestants I" (1689), in Œuvres complètes de Bossuet, Vol. XV, ed. F. Lachat (Paris: Louis Vivès, 1863), p. 221
- [C]et inexorable ennui, qui fait le fond de la vie humaine depui que l'homme a perdu le goût de Dieu!
- That inexorable boredom that is at the core of human life since man has lost the taste for God!
- Letter to Francesco Caffaro, Theatine (9 May 1694), in Maximes et réflexions sur la comédie, précédées de la lettre au P. Caffaro et de deux lettres de ce religieux (Paris: Eugéne Belin et fils, 1884), p. 14
- L'hérétique est celui qui ha une opinion; et c'est ce que le mot même signifie. Quest-ce a dire, avoir une opinion? C'est suivre sa propre pensée et son sentiment particulier. Mais le Catholique est catholique: c'est-a-dire qu'il est universel; et sans avoir de sentiment particulier, il suit sans hèsiter celui de l'Eglise.
- The heretic is one who has an opinion; and that is what the word itself signifies. What does it mean to have an opinion? It is to follow one's own particular thought and feeling. But the Catholic is catholic: that is to say, he is universal; and without having any particular sentiment, he follows without hesitation that of the Church.
- "Instruction pastorale sur les promesses de l'Eglise" (1700), in Œuvres complètes de Bossuet, Vol. XVII, ed. F. Lachat (Paris: Louis Vivès, 1864), p. 112
- [L]a felicité de l'homme consiste a vivre selon la raison.
- Human happiness consists in living according to reason.
- Pensées chrétiennes et morales (1704), in Œuvres complètes de Bossuet, Vol. X, ed. F. Lachat (Paris: Louis Vivès, 1863), Ch. XXXIII, p. 626
- Honor is like the eye, which cannot suffer the least impurity without damage. It is a precious stone, the price of which is lessened by a single flaw.
- Quoted in The Forbes Book of Business Quotations (1997) by Edward C. Goodman, Ted Goodman , p. 411
- Only great souls know the grandeur there is in charity.
- Quoted in Quote Unquote : A Handbook of Quotations (2007) by M. P. Singh, p. 96
Treatise on the Knowledge of God and of One's Self (1677)
- Traité de la connaissance de Dieu et de soi-même (1677), in Œvres complètes de Bossuet, Vol. XXIII, ed. F. Lachat (Paris: Louis Vivès, 1864)
- Ainsi il appartient à l'esprit , c'est-a-dire à l'intendement, de juger de la beauté; parce que juger de la beauté, c'est juger de l'ordre, de la proportion et de la justesse; choses que l'esprit seul peut apercevoir.
- Thus it belongs to the spirit, that is to say to the understanding, to judge beauty; because to judge beauty is to judge order, proportion and rightness; things that only the mind can perceive.
- Ch. I, § viii, p. 53
- [L]'imagination aide beaucoup l'intelligence.
- Imagination helps intelligence a lot.
- Ch. I, § xi, p. 59
- Le fruit de la démonstration est la science.
- The fruit of demonstration is science.
- Ch. I, § xiii, p. 63
- [T]oute vérité démontrée est nécessaire, eternelle et immuable.
- All demonstrated truth is necessary, eternal and immutable.
- Ch. I, § xiii, p. 63
- [I]l n'y a rien de pire que l'anarchie, c'est-a-dire de vivre sans gouvernement et sans lois.
- There is nothing worse than anarchy, that is to say living without government and without laws.
- Ch. I, § xiii, p. 63
- Le plus grand dérèglement de l'esprit, c'est de croire les choses parce qu'on veut qu'elles soient et non parce qu'on a vu qu'elles sont en effet.
- The greatest derangement of the mind is to believe things because we want them to be so and not because we have seen them for what they are.
- Ch. I, § xvi, p. 69
- Un homme ne veut point croire qu'il soit orgueilleux, ni lâche, ni paresseux, ni emporté; il veut croire que qu'il a raison; et quoique su conscience lui reproche souvent ses fautes, il aime mieux étordir lui-même le sentiment qu'il en a, que d'avoir le chagrin de les connaître.
- A man does not want to believe that he is proud, or cowardly, or lazy, or hotheaded; he wants to believe that he is the right sort; and although his conscience reproaches him for his faults, he prefers to suppress the feeling he has of them, than to have the unpleasantness of knowing about them.
- Ch. I, § xvi, pp. 70–71
- Il n'y a donc rien de meilleur, pour ben juger des animaux, que d'étudier soi-même auparavant. Car encore que nous ayons quelque chose au-dessus de l'animal, nous sommes animaux, et nous avons l'expérience tant de ce que fait en nous l'animal que de ce qu'y fait le raisonnement et la réflexion.
- There is therefore no better way to judge animals well than by studying oneself first. For even though we have something higher than the animal, we are animals, and we have experience both of what makes the animal in us and of what makes for reasoning and reflection.
- Ch. V, § iii, p. 214
Discourse on Universal History (1681)
- Discours sur l'histoire universelle, in Œuvres complètes de Bossuet, Vol. XXIV, ed. F. Lachat (Paris: Louis Vivès, 1864)
- Ne croyons pas que notre âme sait une portion de la nature divine, comme l'ont revé quelques philosophes. Dieu n'est pas un tout qui se partage.
- Let us not believe that our soul is a portion of the divine nature, as some philosophers have dreamed. God is not a whole that can be shared out.
- Part II, ch. I, pp. 372–373
- [L]e destinée ordinaire de ceux qui refusent de prêter l'oreille à la vérité est d'être entraînés à leur perte par des prophètes menteurs.
- The usual destiny of those who refuse to listen to the truth is to be led to their ruin by deceptive prophets.
- Part II, ch. XXII, p. 491
- Les uns alléguant toujours que la liberté excessive se détruit enfin elle-même; et les autres craignant au contraire que l'autorité, que de sa nature croît toujours, ne dégénérât enfin en tyrannie.
- Some always allege that excessive freedom ultimately destroys itself; while others fear on the contrary that authority, which by its nature always grows, will finally degenerate into tyranny.
- Part III, ch. vi, p. 640
History of Variations in the Protestant Churches (1688)
- Histoire des variations des églises protestantes (1688), in Œuvres complètes de Bossuet, Vol. XIV, ed. F. Lachat (Paris: Louis Vivès, 1863)
- Le propre de l'hérétique, c'est-à-dire de colui qui a une opinion particulière, est de s'attacher à ses propres pensées; et le propre du catholique, c'est-à-dire de l'universel, est de préférer à ses sentiments le sentiment commun de tout l'Eglise.
- The essence of the heretic, that is to say of someone who has a particular opinion, is that he clings to his own ideas; and the essence of the Catholic, that is to say of the universal, is to prefer to his sentiments the common sentiment of the entire Church.
- Preface, p. 17
- Mais Dieu se rit des prières qu'on lui fait pour détourner les malheurs publics, quand on ne s'oppose pas à ce qui se fait pour les attirer. Que dis-je? quand on l'approuve et qu'on y souscrit, quoique ce soit avec répugnance.
- But God laughs at the prayers we make to him to avert public misfortunes, when we do not oppose what is being done to bring them about. What am I saying? when we approve of and subscribe to it, even if with repugnance.
- Book IV, p. 145
- [D]éisme, c-est-à-dire […] un athéisme déguisé.
- Deism, that is to say a disguised atheism.
- Book V, p. 203
Politics Drawn from the Very Words of Holy Scripture (1709)
- Politique tirée des propres paroles de l'Écriture sainte (1709), in Œuvres complétes de Bossuet, Vol. XXIII, ed. F. Lachat (Paris: Louis Vivès, 1864)
- Le premier de tous les empires est celui qu'on a sur ses désirs.
- The first of all empires is that which one has over one's desires.
- Book IV, Article II, 3rd proposition, p. 576
- C'est le plus grande de toutes les faiblesses, que de craindre trop rie paraître faible.
- It is the greatest of all weaknesses to be too afraid of appearing weak.
- Book IV, Article II, 3rd proposition, p. 577
- Au milieu des déguisements et des artifices qui règnent parmi les hommes, il n'y a que l'attention et la vigilance qui nous puissent sauver des surprises.
- In the midst of the disguises and artifices that reign among men, it is only attention and vigilance that can save us from surprises.
- Book V, Article II, 2nd proposition, p. 612
- English translation from Politics Drawn from the Very Words of Holy Scripture, edited by Patrick Riley (Cambridge University Press, 1990), p. 132
Elevations on the Mysteries (1727)
- Élévations sur les Mystères (1727), in Œuvres complétes de Bossuet, Vol. VII, ed. F. Lachat (Paris: Louis Vivès, 1862)
- [L]a perfection est la raison d'être.
- Perfection is the reason for being.
- Week I, 1st elevation, p. 3
- Dieu est celui en qui le non-être n'a pas de lieu.
- God is the one in whom non-being has no place.
- Week I, 3rd elevation, p. 6
- La sagesse humaine apprend beaucoup, si elle apprend à se taire.
- Human wisdom learns a lot if it learns to be silent.
- Week XX, 11th elevation, p. 346
- Bossuet was a man you instinctively approached on all fours.
- Ronald Knox, Enthusiasm (Oxford University Press, 1950), p. 336
- La gloire de Bossuet est devenue l'une des religions de la France.
- The glory of Bossuet has become one of the religions of France.
- Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, in Causeries du lundi (29 May 1854), p. 180
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