Our revolution has made me feel the full force of the axiom that history is fiction and I am convinced that chance and intrigue have produced more heroes than genius and virtue.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Robespierre feels history is shaped by chance and intrigue more than by virtue, suggesting heroes arise from circumstance.
- In plain terms
- Luck and scheming create heroes more than virtue.
- What can you take from it?
- Beware over‑valuing individual genius.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How much does chance shape outcomes?
- Can we control the influence of intrigue?
Another view
Undermining virtue can excuse immoral behavior.
More from Maximilien Robespierre
It is with regret that I pronounce the fatal truth: Louis must die that the country may live.
Permalink to quote #3 Any institution which does not suppose the people good, and the magistrate corruptible, is evil.
Permalink to quote #5 Citizens, did you want a revolution without revolution?
Permalink to quote #2
Related quotes
I can see ... only one safe rule for the historian: that he should recognize in the development of human destinies the play of the contingent and the unforesee…
Herbert FisherHerbert Fisher quote #3 Such... was the theory (an outgrowth of Malthusian) of the selection and struggle for existence as the basis of human progress. Such again, is Marx's theory, w…
Leo TolstoyLeo Tolstoy quote #74 Die glucklichsten Zeiten der Menschheit sind die leeren Blatter im Buch der Geschichte.
Leopold von RankeLeopold von Ranke quote #1