May the last king be strangled in the bowels of the last priest
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[[Image:Eugène Delacroix - La liberté guidant le peuple.jpg|thumb|200px|''[[Liberty Leading the People]]'' by [[Eugène Delacroix]]]] | [[Image:Eugène Delacroix - La liberté guidant le peuple.jpg|thumb|200px|''[[Liberty Leading the People]]'' by [[Eugène Delacroix]]]] | ||
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- | "'''May the last king be strangled in the bowels of the last priest'''" is a famous [[anti-religious]] and [[anti-establishment]] dictum dating from the time of the [[French Revolution]], originating in the writings of the atheist priest [[Jean Meslier]] (1664 – 1729) and ''philosophe'' [[Denis Diderot]]. | + | "'''May the last king be strangled in the bowels of the last priest'''" is a famous [[anti-religious]] and [[anti-establishment]] dictum, originating in the writings of the atheist priest [[Jean Meslier]] (1664 – 1729) and popularized by [[French Revolution]] ''philosophe'' [[Denis Diderot]] (1713 – 1784). |
It has been translated in English since the end of the 18th century.[https://www.google.com/search?q=%22last+priest%22+%22last+king%22+%22strangled%22&espv=210&es_sm=122&biw=1366&bih=667&sa=X&ei=sNnnUuflPJGKyQOQ2IH4Aw&ved=0CB8QpwUoBDgK&source=lnt&tbs=cdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3A1%2F1%2F1700%2Ccd_max%3A12%2F31%2F1800&tbm=bks]. | It has been translated in English since the end of the 18th century.[https://www.google.com/search?q=%22last+priest%22+%22last+king%22+%22strangled%22&espv=210&es_sm=122&biw=1366&bih=667&sa=X&ei=sNnnUuflPJGKyQOQ2IH4Aw&ved=0CB8QpwUoBDgK&source=lnt&tbs=cdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3A1%2F1%2F1700%2Ccd_max%3A12%2F31%2F1800&tbm=bks]. | ||
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Ultimately the quote is from [[Jean Meslier]], a French atheist priest, famous for his ''Testament'' (1725), of which Voltaire published extracts. | Ultimately the quote is from [[Jean Meslier]], a French atheist priest, famous for his ''Testament'' (1725), of which Voltaire published extracts. | ||
- | + | ==See also== | |
+ | *[[Bowel]] | ||
+ | *[[Priest]] | ||
{{GFDL}} | {{GFDL}} | ||
[[Category:Dicta]] | [[Category:Dicta]] |
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"May the last king be strangled in the bowels of the last priest" is a famous anti-religious and anti-establishment dictum, originating in the writings of the atheist priest Jean Meslier (1664 – 1729) and popularized by French Revolution philosophe Denis Diderot (1713 – 1784).
It has been translated in English since the end of the 18th century.[1].
Jean Meslier version
- "je voudrais que le dernier des rois fût étranglé avec les boyaux du dernier prêtre"[2]
or
- "Je voudrais, et ce sera le dernier et le plus ardent de mes souhaits, je voudrais que le dernier des rois fût étranglé avec les boyaux du dernier prêtre."
English translation:
- "I would like — and this would be the last and most ardent of my wishes — I would like the last of the kings to be strangled by the guts of the last priest" [3]"
Diderot version
Denis Diderot popularized the dictum in two lines from the poem "Les Éleuthéromanes" (1796):
- "Et ses mains ourdiraient les entrailles du prêtre,
- au défaut d’un cordon pour étrangler les rois.[4]
English: And his hands would plait the priest's entrails, for want of a rope, to strangle kings or "his hands would plait the priest’s guts, if he had no rope, to strangle kings."
There is a second different version, also attributed to Diderot and according to this source[5] , to the same poem:
- Et des boyaux du dernier prêtre
Serrons le cou du dernier roi.
- (Let us strangle the last king
- with the guts of the last priest.)
However, it cannot be found in most versions of that poem.
Ultimately the quote is from Jean Meslier, a French atheist priest, famous for his Testament (1725), of which Voltaire published extracts.
See also