Joseph de Maistre - War is thus divine in itself, since it is a law

War is thus divine in itself, since it is a law of the world. War is divine through its consequences of a supernatural nature which are as much general as particular. War is divine in the mysterious glory that surrounds it and in the no less inexplicable attraction that draws us to it. War is divine by the manner in which it breaks out.

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Citations

de Maistre, Joseph. St Petersburg Dialogues: Or Conversations on the Temporal Government of Providence. Translated by Richard A. Lebrun, McGill-Queen's University Press, 1993, p. 219.

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About the Author

Joseph de Maistre

Born: April 1, 1753
Died: February 26, 1821
Nationality: French
Profession: Diplomat

Biography

Joseph-Marie, comte de Maistre was a Savoyard philosopher, writer, lawyer and diplomat who advocated social hierarchy and monarchy in the period immediately following the French Revolution. Despite his close personal and intellectual ties with France, Maistre was throughout his life a subject of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which he served as a member of the Savoy Senate (1787–1792), ambassador to Russia (1803–1817) and minister of state to the court in Turin (1817–1821).

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