Monday, March 13, 2023
To Govern Is To Lie
T.R. Glover, Virgil, 2nd ed. (London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1912), p. 150, n. 2:
Newer› ‹Older
M. Henri Rochefort in the days of the Dreyfus troubles put the same thought in a maxim of wider range:—"Every one knows, and the Ministers best of all, that to govern is to lie (gouverner c'est mentir)." See F.C. Conybeare, The Dreyfus Case, p. 156. It is a brilliant phrase and many people, in ancient times and modern, have believed it—practical politicians and their critics—yes, and thinkers like Euripides and Tolstoi have said it in bitterness of heart. It deserves study.
