"The reality is that, since the fall of Rome, no power has come near to ruling this continent. Charlemagne did not do so, nor did the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperors, nor France's Napoleon, nor Germany's Hitler, nor yet the commissioners of the European Union. If history teaches anything, it is that all attempts to straighten Kant's 'crooked timber of humanity' will fail. Europe's peoples will not be put in bondage to a superior state, however liberal its intentions."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Simon Jenkins, A Short History of Europe: From Pericles to Putin (2018)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Holy_Roman_Empire
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Related Quotes
"Whether the associations of the Imperial name are bad, as Mr. Gladstone thinks, I will not discuss. Splendid and impo…"
"I touch with reverence the laws of Charlemagne, so highly applauded by a respectable judge. They compose not a system…"
"This great empire Charlemagne formed into a systematically organized State, and gave the Frank dominion settled insti…"
"The sheer heterogeneity and diffusion of these lands, which will be examined further below, might suggest that the Ha…"
"But despite the occasional rhetoric of some Habsburg ministers about a “world monarchy,” there was no conscious plan …"
"There was nothing farcical about the institution of the Empire, as Voltaire would have it when he remarked that it wa…"
"The importance of status is vividly illustrated by perhaps the most celebrated summit in German history: the meeting …"
"The reconciliation was short-lived. After being excommunicated a second time Henry crossed the Alps with his army and…"
"Ce corps qui s'appelait et qui s'appelle encore le saint empire romain n'était en aucune manière ni saint, ni romain,…"
"Moscow scholars continue to ignore Novgorod’s creation of a truly effective Russian democratic state preferring inste…"