Did Diderot say "Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"?

Upvote:9

The saying first appeared in the "Testament" of the atheist-priest Jean Meslier, who said he heard it from a common Frenchman in his parish. For details see the final 3 paragraphs of my essay here:

Indeed, in Chapter 2 we find the first formulation of a saying that has commonly been attributed to the French atheist Denis Diderot (1713-1784): “Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.” This is not how Meslier worded the sentiment, nor did he take credit for the idea. Rather, Meslier attributed the sentiment to a common Frenchman “who had no culture or education.” This man, however, had the sound judgment to understand the evils inflicted upon him and other poor people by the French government and Gallican Church.

In his wish and in his way of expressing his thought it seemed that he saw rather far and penetrated rather deeply into the detestable mystery of iniquity of which I just spoke, and recognized very well the perpetrators and instigators. His wish was that all the rulers of the earth and all the nobles be hanged and strangled with the guts of priests.

This expression, Meslier remarked, “may seem hard, rude, and shocking, but you must admit that it is candid and simple.”

Upvote:16

Like most internet “quotes”, this is actually fake. But Diderot said something quite similar in his poem: “Les Éleuthéromanes” :

J'en atteste les temps; j'en appelle à tout âge;

Jamais au public avantage

L'homme n'a franchement sacrifié ses droits;

S'il osait de son cœur n'écouter que la voix,

Changeant tout à coup de langage,

Il nous dirait, comme l'hôte des bois:

La nature n'a fait ni serviteur ni maître;

Je ne veux ni donner ni recevoir de lois.

Et ses mains ourdiraient les entrailles du prêtre,

Au défaut d'un cordon pour étrangler les rois.

Translation by user Xocet on DU:

I display the times; I appeal to the age

The public is never advantaged

Certainly, mankind has not sacrificed its rights;

If mankind dared but to listen to the voice of its heart, changing suddenly the language,

It would say to us, as it would to the animals of the woods:

Nature created neither servant nor master;

I seek neither to rule nor to serve.

And its hands would weave the entrails of the priest,

For the lack of a cord with which to strangle kings.

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