History of France Quotes

“Alexander and Caesar have had this in common: to be loved and wept by the conquered, and to perish by the hands of their own countrymen. Such men have no country; they belong to the world.”
― Jules Michelet, History of France

“And such is the power of the organization so introduced, that even when life shall appear to desert it, and its destruction by the barbarians inevitable, they will submit to its yoke. Despite themselves, they must dwell under the everlasting roofs which mock their efforts at destruction: they will bow the head, and, victors as they are, receive laws from vanquished Rome. ... Such is the work of civil order.”
― Jules Michelet, History of France

“Heaven itself had little terror for them; they returned its thunders with flights of arrows. Did ocean rise and invade the land, they did not refuse its challenge, but marched upon it sword in hand. Never to give way was their point of honor: they would scorn to quit a house in flames. No people held their lives cheaper. There were of them who would undertake to die for a trifle of money or a little wine, would step upon their sleeping places, distribute the wine or money among their friends, lie down on their shields, and offer their throat to the knife.”
― Jules Michelet, History of France