Skepticism cannot be revolutionary, even though it speaks the language of revolution.
Racism is the snobbery of the poor.
Political thought in France is either nostalgic or Utopian.
The intellectual who no longer feels attached to anything is not satisfied with opinion merely; he wants certainty, he wants a system. The revolution provides him with his opium.
Foreknowledge of the future makes it possible to manipulate both enemies and supporters.
Intellectuals cannot tolerate the chance event, the unintelligible: they have a nostalgia for the absolute, for a universally comprehensive scheme.