-
I had displeased the jacobins by blaming their aristocratic usurpation of legitimate powers; the priests of all sorts by claiming religious liberty; the anarchists by repressing them; and the conspirators by rejecting their offers.
Marquis de Lafayette -
Nature has made men free and equal. The distinctions necessary for social order are only founded on general utility.
Marquis de Lafayette
-
The affairs of America I shall ever look upon as my first business whilst I am in Europe. Any confidence from the king and ministers, any popularity I may have among my own countrymen, any means in my power, shall be, to the best of my skill, and till the end of my life, exerted in behalf of an interest I have so much at heart.
Marquis de Lafayette -
Humanity has won its battle. Liberty now has a country.
Marquis de Lafayette -
The continental troops have as much courage and real discipline as those that are opposed to them. They are more inured to privation, more patient than Europeans, who, on these two points, cannot be compared to them.
Marquis de Lafayette -
It is foolishly thought by some that democratical constitutions will not, cannot, last; that the States will quarrel with each other; that a king, or at least a nobility, are indispensable for the prosperity of a nation.
Marquis de Lafayette -
Any commands which Congress may have for me shall be cheerfully executed by one of their earliest soldiers, whose happiness it is to think that, at a less smiling moment, he had the honor to be adopted by America, and whose blood, exertions, and affections will in her good times, as they have been in her worst, be entirely at her service.
Marquis de Lafayette -
The more I see, hear, and think in Europe, the more I wish for every measure that can ensure to the United States dignity, power, and public confidence.
Marquis de Lafayette
-
During my last voyage to America, I enjoyed the happiness of seeing that revolution completed, and, thinking of the one that would probably occur in France, I said in a speech to Congress, published everywhere except in the 'French Gazette,' 'May this revolution serve as a lesson to oppressors and as an example to the oppressed!'
Marquis de Lafayette -
If the king refuses the constitution, I shall oppose him; if he accepts it, I shall defend him; and the day on which he gave himself up as my prisoner secured me more fully to his service than if he had promised me half his kingdom.
Marquis de Lafayette -
The king knows with what ardor and perseverance I have at all times been devoted to the cause of liberty and to the principles of humanity, equality and justice.
Marquis de Lafayette -
The good fortune of America is closely tied to the good fortune of all humanity.
Marquis de Lafayette -
Our articles of confederation ought to be revised and measures immediately taken to invigorate the Continental Union. Depend upon it: there lies the danger for America. This last stroke is wanting, and unless the states be strongly bound to each other, we have to fear from British and, indeed, from European politics.
Marquis de Lafayette -
Defender of the liberty that I idolize, myself more free than anyone, in coming as a friend to offer my services to this intriguing republic, I bring to it only my frankness and my good will; no ambition, no self-interest; in working for my glory, I work for their happiness.
Marquis de Lafayette
-
I shall ask for the abolition for the punishment of death until I have the infallibility of human judgment demonstrated to me.
Marquis de Lafayette -
All the evils of France have been produced less by the perversity of the wicked and the violence of fools than by the hesitation of the weak, the compromises of conscience, and the tardiness of patriotism. Let every deputy, every Frenchman show what he feels, what he thinks, and we are saved!
Marquis de Lafayette -
Let not ambition take possession of you; love the friends of the people, but reserve blind submission for the law and enthusiasm for liberty.
Marquis de Lafayette -
When the government violates the people's rights, insurrection is, for the people and for each portion of the people, the most sacred of the rights and the most indispensible of duties.
Marquis de Lafayette -
Nothing hurts so much the interest and reputation of America as to hear of their intestine quarrels.
Marquis de Lafayette -
Do not let us despair of the cause of liberty: it is still dear to the hearts of Frenchmen, and we shall one day have the felicity of seeing it established in our beloved country.
Marquis de Lafayette
-
I feel happy that twenty-five years of vicissitudes in my fortune, and firmness in my principles, warrant me in repeating here that if, to recover her rights, it is sufficient for a nation to resolve to do so, she can preserve them only by rigid fidelity to her civil and moral duties.
Marquis de Lafayette -
The Emperor Napoleon, ascending gradually from his post of national magistrate to seat himself upon a throne without limits, seems to have wished to punish, as for the abuse of republican reforms, by making us feel all the weight of absolute monarchy.
Marquis de Lafayette -
My heart has always been truly convinced that in serving the cause of America, I am fighting for the interests of France.
Marquis de Lafayette -
I became obnoxious to the Jacobins because I reprobated their aristocracy, which aimed at usurping all legitimate authority.
Marquis de Lafayette