[Ads-l] Fw: [for QI ?] "He who saves his country, violates no law"

ADSGarson O'Toole adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM
Sun Feb 16 16:54:06 UTC 2025


Excellent work, Peter and Stephen.
On Bluesky I was asked about this topic and replied with a tweet/skeet
yesterday presenting an 1838 citation in Gallica:

https://bsky.app/profile/quoteinvestigator.com/post/3liavwf5hv224

Napoleon Bonaparte died in 1821.
Title: Maximes et pensées de Napoléon recueillies
Author: J.-L. Gaudy jeune
Publication date: 1838
Database: gallica.bnf.fr

[Begin excerpt]
Celui qui sauve sa patrie ne viole aucune loi.
[End except]

Possible Translations:

He who saves his homeland does not violate any law.
He who saves his country violates no law.

https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6151840d/f46.image.r=viole

Bonnie found this same citation independently and shared it in an
off-list email thread. Barry created a helpful webpage on the topic:
https://barrypopik.com/blog/he-who-saves-a-nation-violates-no-law

Perhaps a list member can find an earlier citation.
Garson

On Sun, Feb 16, 2025 at 9:17 AM Stephen Goranson
<0000179d4093b2d6-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> ________________________________
> From: Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu>
> Sent: Sunday, February 16, 2025 9:14 AM
> To: mr_peter_morris at outlook.com <mr_peter_morris at OUTLOOK.COM>
> Subject: Re: [for QI ?] "He who saves his country, violates no law"
>
> Napoleon in His Own Words: From the French of Jules Bertaut
> By Napoleon I (Emperor of the French) p.2
> June, 1916 GB
>
> Who saves his country violates no law.
>
> sadly,
> sg
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of mr_peter_morris at outlook.com <mr_peter_morris at OUTLOOK.COM>
> Sent: Sunday, February 16, 2025 9:04 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: [for QI ?] "He who saves his country, violates no law"
>
> A recent Social Media post by Donald Trump:
>
> "He who saves his country, violates no law"
>
> A quote attributed to Napoleon, but who really said it?
>
> Earliest reference I can find is 1917, Attributed to Napoleon
> but without reference.
>
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_New_Europe/DZIbAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=He*who**A22saves*his*country*22,*violates**A22no*law*22&pg=PA252&printsec=frontcover__;KyslKyslKyslKyU!!OToaGQ!vc_oE00uIPyrgdf01SPLX5-Trhtfp9vnYPQ0N1IXdy9M3kk-Y4NKIGSTjAhqE3LPV58o854bo8YJRwLv5YUCqwkMFKc$
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
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