--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: France is a nation devoted to the false…" description: "\"France is a nation devoted to the false hypothesis on which it then builds marvelously logical structures.\" — Gore Vidal" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05e/gore-vidal-466_devoted_france-is-a-nation-devoted-to-the-false_1506115.jpg" --- # France is a nation devoted to the false hypothesis on… ![“France is a nation devoted to the false hypothesis on which it then builds marvelously logical structures.” quote by Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05e/gore-vidal-466_devoted_france-is-a-nation-devoted-to-the-false_1506115.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05e/gore-vidal-466_devoted_france-is-a-nation-devoted-to-the-false_1506115.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05e/gore-vidal-466_devoted_france-is-a-nation-devoted-to-the-false_1506115.jpg) > “France is a nation devoted to the false hypothesis on which it then builds marvelously logical structures.” [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. France clings to an unfounded belief, yet constructs impressive logical systems around it. **In simple terms:** France builds impressive logic on a false belief. Key Takeaway Question assumptions before building arguments. Themes national identity belief logic pride Mood critical analytical Type philosophical political When to use this quote - academic debate - policy analysis - public discourse - media commentary Key Concepts philosophy political critique cognitive bias Questions to Reflect On - What assumptions underlie national narratives? - How can we test the validity of foundational beliefs? A Different Perspective The claim may oversimplify complex cultural dynamics. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Devoted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devoted/) [English](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english/) [False Hypothesis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/false-hypothesis-5533378/) [France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/france/) [France Nation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/france-nation-3622226/) [Hypothesis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hypothesis/) [Hypothesis Builds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hypothesis-builds-5533380/) [Logical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/logical/) [Marvelously Logical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marvelously-logical-5533379/) [Nations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nations/) [Structure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/structure/) ## Related quotes > [Cultural Marxism that has permeated all of Europe and has been the driving force that has brought France - the nation of Liberty, Fraternity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-kirk/cultural-marxism-that-has-permeated-all-of-europe-and-has-been-the/) [Charlie Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-kirk/) > [Those who claim France as a nation-state is obsolete are wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-gallo/those-who-claim-france-as-a-nation-state-is-obsolete-are-wrong/) [Max Gallo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-gallo/) > [France is the only nation in which astoundingly small numbers of civilized patrons reside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-courbet/france-is-the-only-nation-in-which-astoundingly-small-numbers-of/) [Gustave Courbet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-courbet/) > [My "thinking" time was devoted mainly to activities that were essentially clerical or mechanical: searching, calculating, plotting, transforming, determining the logical or dynamic consequences…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-r-licklider/my-thinking-time-was-devoted-mainly-to-activities-that-were/) [J. C. R. Licklider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-r-licklider/) > [No one believes an hypothesis except its originator but everyone believes an experiment except the experimenter. Most people are ready to believe something based…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ian-beardmore-beveridge/no-one-believes-an-hypothesis-except-its-originator-but-everyone-2/) [William Ian Beardmore Beveridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ian-beardmore-beveridge/) > [I'm devoted to promiscuity, and always have been. I believe the more you do, the better it is for you. I'm a great health…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/i-m-devoted-to-promiscuity-and-always-have-been-i-believe-the-more/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [The religious hypothesis, therefore, must be considered only as a particular method of accounting for the visible phenomena of the universe: but no just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/the-religious-hypothesis-therefore-must-be-considered-only-as-a/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [“The only part of evolution in which any considerable interest is felt is evolution applied to man. A hypothesis in regard to the rocks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-jennings-bryan/the-only-part-of-evolution-in-which-any-considerable-interest-is-felt/) [William Jennings Bryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-jennings-bryan/) > [It is a good morning exercise for a research scientist to discard a pet hypothesis every day before breakfast. It keeps him young.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/it-is-a-good-morning-exercise-for-a-research-scientist-to-discard-a/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [In science, each new result, sometimes quite surprising, heralds a step forward and allows one to discard some hypotheses, even though one or two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-b-prusiner/in-science-each-new-result-sometimes-quite-surprising-heralds-a-step/) [Stanley B. Prusiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-b-prusiner/) > [Whether statistics be an art or a science... or a scientific art, we concern ourselves little. It is the basis of social and political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolphe-quetelet/whether-statistics-be-an-art-or-a-science-or-a-scientific-art-we/) [Adolphe Quetelet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolphe-quetelet/) > [When it comes to explaining human thought and behavior, the possibility that heredity plays any role at all still has the power to shock.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/when-it-comes-to-explaining-human-thought-and-behavior-the/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [I am quite conscious that my speculations run beyond the bounds of true science…It is a mere rag of an hypothesis with as many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/i-am-quite-conscious-that-my-speculations-run-beyond-the-bounds-of/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [The greatest problem for mathematicians now is probably the Riemann Hypothesis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wiles/the-greatest-problem-for-mathematicians-now-is-probably-the-riemann/) [Andrew Wiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wiles/) > [There are, after all, atheists who say they wish the fable were true but are unable to suspend the requisite disbelief, or who have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/there-are-after-all-atheists-who-say-they-wish-the-fable-were-true/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) ## More by Gore Vidal > [There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party...and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat. Republicans are a bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/there-is-only-one-party-in-the-united-states-the-property-party-and/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Many people in the United States happen to believe that United States policy is wrong in Vietnam and the Vietcong are correct in wanting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/many-people-in-the-united-states-happen-to-believe-that-united-states/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [“It is curious how little interested we are in the sexual desires of those who do not attract us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/it-is-curious-how-little-interested-we-are-in-the-sexual-desires-of/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [This separation was absolute in our original Republic. But the sky-godders do not give up easily. In the 1950s they actually got the phrase…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/this-separation-was-absolute-in-our-original-republic-but-the-sky/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/style-is-knowing-who-you-are-what-you-want-to-say-and-not-giving-a/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [The oligarchs think that the people are both dangerous and stupid. Their point is moot. But we do know that the oligarchs are a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/the-oligarchs-think-that-the-people-are-both-dangerous-and-stupid/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [It is curious how often one prefers his enemies to his friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/it-is-curious-how-often-one-prefers-his-enemies-to-his-friends/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [As societies grow decadent, the language grows decadent, too. Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action: you liberate a city by destroying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/as-societies-grow-decadent-the-language-grows-decadent-too-words-are/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Rome ... at its most decadent, had never thought of hiring an actor to go through the motions of being an emperor while the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/rome-at-its-most-decadent-had-never-thought-of-hiring-an-actor-to-go/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [History is nothing but gossip about the past, with the hope that it might be true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/history-is-nothing-but-gossip-about-the-past-with-the-hope-that-it/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [The malady of civilized man is his knowledge of death. The good artist, like the wise man, addresses himself to life and invests with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/the-malady-of-civilized-man-is-his-knowledge-of-death-the-good-artist/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Sex is a continuum. You go through different phases along life's way... and if you don't, you've been sort of cheated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/sex-is-a-continuum-you-go-through-different-phases-along-life-s-way/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [All I want is that Americans still be able to read the alphabet in a hundred years. I am not very ambitious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/all-i-want-is-that-americans-still-be-able-to-read-the-alphabet-in-a/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [I do not admire 'the people,' as such. No one really does. Their folk wisdom is usually false, their instincts predatory. Even their sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/i-do-not-admire-the-people-as-such-no-one-really-does-their-folk/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [“One of the problems of a society as tightly controlled as ours is that we get so little information about what those of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/one-of-the-problems-of-a-society-as-tightly-controlled-as-ours-is/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) [Explore all 539 Gore Vidal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) ## More Devoted quotes > [As an undergraduate at Amherst College, I was devoted to Dickensian novels and antiestablishment journalism while marginally fulfilling premedical requirements.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-e-varmus/as-an-undergraduate-at-amherst-college-i-was-devoted-to-dickensian/) [Harold E. Varmus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-e-varmus/) > [You'll know you're amazing when you get devoted to making other people amazing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-sharma/you-ll-know-you-re-amazing-when-you-get-devoted-to-making-other/) [Robin Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-sharma/) > [It is hard to work for years with pure motives, and all the time be looked upon by most of those to whom our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-livingstone/it-is-hard-to-work-for-years-with-pure-motives-and-all-the-time-be/) [David Livingstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-livingstone/) > [The USA is so enormous, and so numerous are its schools, colleges and religious seminaries, many devoted to special religious beliefs ranging from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-medawar/the-usa-is-so-enormous-and-so-numerous-are-its-schools-colleges-and/) [Peter Medawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-medawar/) > [There are something like 300 anti-genocide chapters on college campuses around the country. It's bigger than the anti-apartheid movement. There are something like 500…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-power/there-are-something-like-300-anti-genocide-chapters-on-college/) [Samantha Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-power/) > [The man does not live who is more devoted to peace than I am. None who would do more to preserve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/the-man-does-not-live-who-is-more-devoted-to-peace-than-i-am-none-who/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/queen-elizabeth-ii/i-declare-before-you-all-that-my-whole-life-whether-it-be-long-or/) [Queen Elizabeth II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/queen-elizabeth-ii/) > [Then years back, when I moved to California, I happened to see a book about fashions of 19th-century Victorian England, only four pages of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/then-years-back-when-i-moved-to-california-i-happened-to-see-a-book/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I will always fight for progress and reform, never tolerate injustice or corruption, always fight demagogues of all parties, never belong to any party,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-pulitzer/i-will-always-fight-for-progress-and-reform-never-tolerate-injustice/) [Joseph Pulitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-pulitzer/) > [I like people who are devoted to me: men who know I'm the most fabulous thing in the world, and they just look at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-bowie/i-like-people-who-are-devoted-to-me-men-who-know-i-m-the-most/) [Angela Bowie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-bowie/) > [And your Highnesses, as Catholic Christians and Princes, devoted to the holy Christian faith and the propagation thereof - and enemies of the sect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-columbus/and-your-highnesses-as-catholic-christians-and-princes-devoted-to-the/) [Christopher Columbus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-columbus/) > [I realized that health is the most important thing and that all the other things come with time if you are devoted enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blanka-vlasic/i-realized-that-health-is-the-most-important-thing-and-that-all-the/) [Blanka Vlasic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blanka-vlasic/) > [Doctoral training is devoted almost entirely to learning to do research, even though most Ph.Ds who enter academic life spend far more time teaching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-bok/doctoral-training-is-devoted-almost-entirely-to-learning-to-do/) [Derek Bok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-bok/) > [We know he's been absolutely devoted to trying to acquire nuclear weapons, and we believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-cheney/we-know-he-s-been-absolutely-devoted-to-trying-to-acquire-nuclear/) [Dick Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-cheney/) > [Congress is full of good, decent, smart people who have devoted their lives to public service.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/congress-is-full-of-good-decent-smart-people-who-have-devoted-their/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) [Browse all 711 Devoted quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devoted/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "France is a nation devoted to the false hypothesis on which it then builds marvelously logical structures.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gore Vidal" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/france-is-a-nation-devoted-to-the-false-hypothesis-on-which-it-then/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Devoted" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/france-is-a-nation-devoted-to-the-false-hypothesis-on-which-it-then/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05e/gore-vidal-466_devoted_france-is-a-nation-devoted-to-the-false_1506115.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05e/gore-vidal-466_devoted_france-is-a-nation-devoted-to-the-false_1506115.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05e/gore-vidal-466_devoted_france-is-a-nation-devoted-to-the-false_1506115.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“France is a nation devoted to the false hypothesis on which it then builds marvelously logical structures.” — Gore Vidal", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Gore Vidal", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "France is a nation devoted to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/france-is-a-nation-devoted-to-the-false-hypothesis-on-which-it-then/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/france-is-a-nation-devoted-to-the-false-hypothesis-on-which-it-then/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```