Jean Racine Quotes
Do you think you can be righteous and holy with impunity?
Racine, Jean. Athalie. Denys Thierry, 1691, Act 1, Scene 1.
A conservative Calvinist weekly periodical. Just as today, there were few politicians who could stand up to such a test.
This verse has been one of the bases of Muslim theocratic states like Iran’s claim to legitimacy. The word “govern” is sometimes translated as “judge.” In the context of the 6th century, there were no separation of powers as we know them and judging, governing and legislating were melded.
Sins punishable by death included blasphemy, seditious language, scolding one's parents, adultery, lewd conduct, backbiting, spreading scandal, and even complaining. Persons of marriageable age were ordered to marry; unmarried women had to accept the first man to ask them.
Jean Racine (/ræˈsiːn/ rass-EEN, US also /rəˈsiːn/ rə-SEEN), baptized Jean-Baptiste Racine, was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille, and an important literary figure in the Western tradition. Racine was primarily a tragedian, producing such "examples of neoclassical perfection" as Phèdre, Andromaque, and Athalie. He did write one comedy, Les Plaideurs, and a muted tragedy, Esther for the young.
