How consoling for the philosopher who laments the errors, the crimes, the injustices which still pollute the earth and of which he is often the victim is this view of the human race, emancipated from its shackles, released from the empire of fate and from the enemies of its progress, advancing with a firm and sure step along the path of truth, virtue, and happiness! It is the contemplation of this project that rewards him for his efforts to assist the progress of reason and the defense of liberty.Antoine-Nicolas de Condorcet [shortly before he was arrested on the orders of Robespierre and died in custody at Bourge-la-Reine while awaiting execution]
Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress of the Human Mind (1793)
June Barraclough, trans. (New York: Noonday Press, 1955), 201.
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