Absolutism Quotes

• There is absolute truth in anarchism and it is to be seen in its attitude to the sovereignty of the state and to every form of state absolutism. [...] The religious truth of anarchism consists in this, that power over man is bound up with sin and evil, that a state of perfection is a state where there is no power of man over man, that is to say, anarchy. The Kingdom of God is freedom and the absence of such power... the Kingdom of God is anarchy.

  Nikolai Berdyaev

  Religious, Attitude, Men

  "Slavery and Freedom". Book by Nikolai Berdyaev, 1939.

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• One king, one law, one faith.

  Louis XIV

  Kings, Law

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• George Bush made a mistake when he referred to the Saddam Hussein regime as 'evil.' Every liberal and leftist knows how to titter at such black-and-white moral absolutism.

  Christopher Hitchens

  Mistake, Black And White, Moral Absolutism

  Simon Cottee, Thomas Cushman, Christopher Hitchens (2008). “Christopher Hitchens and His Critics: Terror, Iraq, and the Left”, p.5104, NYU Press

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• All parties without exception, when they seek for power, are varieties of absolutism.

  Pierre-Joseph Proudhon

  Party, Exception, Variety

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• I have no intention of sharing my authority.

  Louis XVI of France

  Intention, Authority

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• Absolutism is a guarantee of objectionable morals in the same way that absolutism in government is a guarantee of objectionable government.

  Robert Briffault

  Government, Guarantees, Way

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• The principle of evil in Europe is the enervating spirit of Russian absolutism.

  Lajos Kossuth

  Europe, Evil, Principles

  Lajos Kossuth, Francis William Newman (1854). “Select Speeches of Kossuth”, p.63

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• It is possible that the distinction between moral relativism and moral absolutism has sometimes been blurred because an excessively consistent practice of either leads to the same practical result — ruthlessness in political life.

  Richard Hofstadter

  Moral Absolutism, Practice, Political

  Richard Hofstadter (2011). “The Age of Reform”, p.16, Vintage

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  Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

  Lord Acton

  Inspirational, Leadership, Work

  Letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton, 3 April 1887, in Louise Creighton 'Life and Letters of Mandell Creighton' (1904) vol. 1, ch. 13.

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• Socrates is not just expounding noble ideas in a vacuum. He is in the middle of a war between those who think truth is absolute and those who think truth is relative. He is fighting that war with everything he has.

  Robert M. Pirsig

  War, Fighting, Thinking

  "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". Book by Robert M. Pirsig, 1974.

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• If you didn't believe in objective truth, arguments would be just toys, or games, or jokes.

  Peter Kreeft

  Believe, Games, Toys

  Peter Kreeft (2016). “A Refutation of Moral Relativism: Interviews with an Absolutist”, p.59, Ignatius Press

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• The interests of the state must come first.

  Louis XVI of France

  Firsts, States, Interest

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• Most people believe you have to have some moral absolutes if you want to hold back chaos.

  Peter Kreeft

  Believe, People, Want

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• In the light of absolute values (religious or ethical) man himself is judged to be limited or imperfect, while he can occasionally accomplish acts which partake of perfection, he, himself can never be perfect.

  T. E. Hulme

  Religious, Men, Light

  "Speculations: Essays on Humanism and the Philosophy of Art". Book by T. E. Hulme, 1924.

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• I saw in States' rights the only availing check upon the absolutism of the sovereign will, and secession filled me with hope, not as the destruction but as the redemption of Democracy.... Therefore I deemed that you were fighting the battles of our liberty, our progress, and our civilization, and I mourn for the stake which was lost at Richmond more deeply than I rejoice over that which was saved at Waterloo.

  Lord Acton

  Fighting, Rights, Civilization

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• The absolutist parades his good solid grounding in observation, reason, objectivity, truth and fact; the relativist sees only fetishes.

  Simon Blackburn

  Objectivity, Facts, Reason

  Simon Blackburn (2005). “Truth: A Guide”, p.15, Oxford University Press

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• The absolutist trumpets his plain vision; the relativist sees only someone who is unaware of his own spectacles.

  Simon Blackburn

  Vision, Trumpets, Spectacles

  Simon Blackburn (2005). “Truth: A Guide”, p.15, Oxford University Press

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• The absolutist takes himself to read nature in her very own language, but the relativist insists that nature does not speak, and we hear only what we have elected to hear.

  Simon Blackburn

  Doe, Language, Speak

  Simon Blackburn (2005). “Truth: A Guide”, p.15, Oxford University Press

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• Some forms of absolutism are not bad; they may even be heroic.

  D. A. Carson

  May, Heroic, Form

  D. A. Carson (2005). “Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church: Understanding a Movement and Its Implications”, p.91, Harper Collins

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• But one thing is certain: the commandments have not changed. Let there be no mistake about that. Right is still right. Wrong is still wrong, no matter how cleverly cloaked in respectability or political correctness. We believe in chastity before marriage and fidelity ever after. That standard is an absolute standard of truth. It is neither subject to public opinion polls nor dependent upon situation or circumstance. There is no need to debate it or other gospel standards.

  M. Russell Ballard

  Mistake, Believe, Political

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• The idea of God is the type and foundation of the principle of authority and absolutism, which it is our task to destroy or at least to subordinate wherever it manifests itself.

  Pierre-Joseph Proudhon

  Ideas, Foundation, Principles

  Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (2007). “The Philosophy of Misery”, p.362, Cosimo, Inc.

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• I mourn for the stake which was lost at Richmond more deeply than I rejoice over that which was saved at Waterloo.

  Lord Acton

  Lost, Stakes, Rejoice

  Letter to Robert E. Lee, November 4, 1866.

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• There is nothing quite like the moral absolutism of the young." -Hodge

  Cassandra Clare

  Moral Absolutism, Moral, Young

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• According to the moral absolutism that characterizes McCandless's beliefs, a challenge in which a successful outcome is assured isn't a challenge at all.

  Jon Krakauer

  Success, Moral Absolutism, Challenges

  FaceBook post by Jon Krakauer from Jun 21, 2012

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• Does it seem to you impossible to imagine anything more inextricable than the social contract, when you think of the frightful number of relations that it must regulate -- something like squaring the circle, or finding perpetual motion? That is the reason why, wearied of the struggle, you fall back on absolutism and force.

  Pierre-Joseph Proudhon

  Struggle, Fall, Thinking

  Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (2007). “General Idea of the Revolution in the Nineteenth Century”, p.131, Cosimo, Inc.

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