There are two sorts of laws, those of absolute equity and universality, and the bizarre… — Denis Diderot
There are two sorts of laws, those of absolute equity and universality, and the bizarre ones which owe their autonomy only to blindness or to the force of circumstance. The latter merely cover the man who is breaking them with a passing disgrace, which time then transfers to the judges and the nations, on whom it remains forever.
In the original French
Mais il y a deux sortes de lois: les unes d’une équité, d’une généralité absolues; d’autres bizarres, qui ne doivent leur sanction qu’à l’aveuglement ou à la nécessité des circonstances.
1805
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Current citation
Diderot, Denis. "Rameau's Nephew." Rameau's Nephew and Other Works, translated by Jacques Barzun and Ralph H. Bowen. Hackett Publishing Company, 2001.
Original citation
Diderot, Denis. Le Neveu de Rameau, ou La Satire seconde [The Nephew of Rameau, or the Second Satire]. 1805 (German); 1891 (original French manuscript).
