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Bertrand de Jouvenel

Bertrand de Jouvenel Books

Philosopher

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“The idea so commonly found that scepticism leads to toleration arises from considering the effects of scepticism in the intellectual who takes no active part - not its effects in the man of action. In the man of action, moral relativism and scepticism as to the absolute and universal value of his priunciples are no obstacle to a fanatical belief in their immediate value as his own clan at the actual moment; they do not weaken in the least his will to impose his principles. How should he glimpse a soul of truth in the principles of others, entitling them to respect, when he does not believe in noble origins of this kind even for his own principles?”

PeaceFreedom Of SpeechOpinionsRelativismMoral RelativismFreedom Of ThoughEpistemic Relativism
Book:Sovereignty: An Inquiry into the Political Good
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“The more routine that systematised activities are, the more nearly they are of the monotonous character seen in the habits of social animals and the less necessary are master builders; the more novel actions are, the more necessary are master builders. Dislike of the leader and the promoter, though linked emotionally to progressivism, is linked logically to total conservatism. Conversely, an authoritarian approach, natural enough in the instigator of new activities, is unjustified in the mere overseer of routines.”

LeadershipDemocracyHierarchyProgressivismConservativismDirect Democracy
Book:Sovereignty: An Inquiry into the Political Good
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“The law of all modern states takes account of associations, whose members, in theory, pursue the common end with equal zeal. The experience of all associations proves, however, that this is not the case, and that a lively, constant and vigorous awareness of the end is found only in a minority of the associates; an association is really rather like a comet—a large tail of docile followers dragged along by a small dynamic head.”

LeadershipDemocracyGroupsSociologySocial DynamicsGroup Action
Book:Sovereignty: An Inquiry into the Political Good
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“But there are no institutions on earth which enable each separate person to have a hand in the exercise of Power, for Power is command, and everyone cannot command. Sovereignty of the people is, therefore, nothing but a fiction, and one which must in the long run prove destructive of individual liberties.”

PeoplePersonsLongHandsRunningEarthIndividualFictionLibertyExerciseProveInstitutionsCommandDestructiveLong RunsSovereigntyIndividual Liberty
Book:On Power: Its Nature and the History of Its Growth
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“It is appropriate here to recall that the so-called Dark Ages began with the flight of the individuals into the protection of lords or chapters and came to an end when the individual again found it to his advantage to set forth on his own. We live at a time when everything conspires to push the individual into the fold.”

EndsAgeFoundIndividualDarkLordAdvantageProtectionFlightAppropriateChaptersRecallsFoldsDark Ages
Book:The Ethics of Redistribution
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“The intellectual's hostility to the businessman presents no mystery, as the two have, by function, wholly different standards. While the businessman's motto is the customer is always right, the intellectual's task is to preserve his perceived standards against the weight of popular opinion.”

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Author:Bertrand de Jouvenel
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“Ransack the history of revolutions, and it will be found that every fall of a regime has been presaged by a defiance which went unpunished. It is as true today as it was ten thousand years ago that a Power from which the magic virtue has gone out, falls.”

YearsHas BeensTodayFallFoundGoneVirtueMagicRevolutionThousandTenYears AgoRegimesThousand YearsDefiance
Book:On Power: Its Nature and the History of Its Growth
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“Command is a mountaintop. The air breathed there is different, and the perspectives seen there are different, from those of the valley of obedience. The passion for order and the genius for construction, which are part of man's natural endowment, get full play there. The man who has grown great sees from the top of his tower what he can make, if he so wills, of the swarming masses below him.”

IfsMenDifferentPlayOrderPassionNaturalAirHe ManPerspectiveGeniusMassCommandObedienceValleysConstructionTowersEndowmentNatural Endowment
Book:On Power: Its Nature and the History of Its Growth
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