It seems as though nations love perils, and when they have none, they create them.
[Il semble que les peuples aiment les périls, et que lorsqu’ils en manquent, ils s’en créent.]
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 16 “Des Mœurs publiques et privées; du Caractère des Nations [On Morality and the Character of Nations],” ¶ 57 (1850 ed.) [tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 15, ¶ 26]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translation:It seems to me that nations love dangers, and when there are none to be found create them to fill the want.
[tr. Collins (1928), ch. 15]
Quotations about:
nations
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There can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard.
George Washington (1732-1799) American military leader, Founding Father, US President (1789-1797)
Farewell Address (17 Sep 1796) [with A. Hamilton]
