[Ads-l] Quote Origin: God's Only Excuse Is That He Does Not Exist (Attributed to Stendhal)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The comically paradoxical saying in the subject line has been credited
to French Romantic novelist Stendhal (Marie-Henri Beyle). It has also
been linked to German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche and French
philosopher Albert Camus. I recieved a request to investigate.

Beyle died in 1842. In 1850 the French writer and archaeologist
Prosper Mérimée published a short work about his friend. The title of
the work, "H. B.", was based on the initials of Henri Beyle. Mérimée
presented the following comment about Beyle:

[Begin excerpt]
Il n'avait aucune idée religieuse, ou s'il en avait, il apportait un
sentiment de colère et de rancune contre la Providence. « Ce qui
excuse Dieu, disait-il, c'est qu'il n'existe pas. »
[End excerpt]

Here is one possible rendering into English:

[Begin translation]
He never had any sense of religion, or if he did, he harbored a sense
of anger and resentment toward Providence. "God's only excuse," he'd
say, "is that He doesn't exist."
[End translation]

Friedrich Nietzsche mentioned this saying in his book "Ecce Homo", but
Nietzsche credited the remark to Stendhal.

Albert Camus mentioned the saying in his book "L'Homme Révolté" ("The
Rebel"), but Camus commented that Nietzsche attributed the statement
to Stendhal.

Here is a link to the Quote Investigator article:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/04/23/god-excuse/

Feedback welcome
Garson O'Toole

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org