“People said— though this felt like a heresy— that they had seen Camille make Robespierre laugh.” — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“The prose,” Robespierre said. “It’s so clean, no conceits, no show, no wit. He means every word. Formerly, you see, he meant… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“Robespierre has never forgiven his friends the injuries he has done them, nor the kindnesses he has received from them, nor the… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“Ask Robespierre. Ask the man with the conscience which is more important, your friend or your country— ask him how he weighs… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“The Robespierre women (as one tended to think of them now) were all on display. Madame looked actively, rather intimidatingly benevolent; it… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“You must, of course. Robespierre doesn’t lie or cheat or steal, doesn’t get drunk, doesn’t fornicate—overmuch. He’s not a hedonist or a… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“DANTON: Could you indeed? It's you idealists who make the best tyrants. ROBESPIERRE: It seems a bit late to be having this… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“This is Maximilien de Robespierre, barrister-at-law: unmarried, personable, a young man with all his life before him. Today against his most deeply… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“I resent you—” Robespierre said. His words were lost. “The People,” he shouted, “are everywhere good, and if they obstruct the Revolution—even,… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“...and I sometimes think that the fading out of the individual personality is what one should desire, not the status of a… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“Talking to Robespierre, one tried to make the right noises; but what is right, these days? Address yourself to the militant, and… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“Inside his copy of The Social Contract he keeps a letter from a young Picard, an enthusiast called Antoine Saint-Just: “I know… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“In the Convention tomorrow I shall put him up to confront Saint-Just. Imagine it. Our man the picture of starched rectitude, and… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“As the year goes on, certain deputies—and others, high in public life—will appear unshaven, without coat or cravat; or they will jettison… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“In Paris the swaying lanterns are lit in the streets; lights shine through water, fuzzy, diffuse. Saint-Just sits by an insufficient fire,… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“The Republic is six months old, and it’s flying apart. It has no cohesive force—only a monarchy has that. Surely you can… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
People will identify with a persecuted minority without asking themselves what they are identifying with. — Hilary Mantel Copy Share
“The hunter is among the most innocent of men; living in the moment makes him feel pure. When he returns in the evening, his… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share
“But what would happen … I mean, what would be so awful … if they did meet up?” “Why, it would be like the… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share
When you have committed enough words to paper, you feel you have a spine stiff enough to stand up in the wind. But when… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share
At New Year's he had given Anne a present of silver forks with handles of rock crystal. He hopes she will use them to… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share
“The story of my own childhood is a complicated sentence that I am always trying to finish, to finish and put behind me. It… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share
“He wants to say, because Anne is not a carnal being, she is a calculating being, with a cold slick brain at work behind… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share
“Come to that, don't pay out good money for horoscopes. If things are going to go badly for you, is that what you need… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share
“But my sins are my strength, he thinks; the sins I have done, that others have not even found the opportunity of committing. I… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share
“Mirabeau: “If you have been told to clear us from this hall, you must ask for orders to use force. We shall leave our… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share
“Cardinal Campeggio has implored Katherine to bow to the king's will, accept that her marriage is invalid and retire to a convent. Certainly, she… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share
“Sion calls Anne an eel, he calls her a slippery dipper from the slime, and he remembers what the cardinal had called her: my… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share
I spend a great deal of time on research, on finding all the available accounts of a scene or incident, finding out all the… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share
“At the front, people die for their mistakes. Why should politicians be more gently treated? They made the war. They deserve a dozen deaths,… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share
