Carl Schmitt

Political Theory German 1888 – 1985 98 quotes

A German jurist and political theorist known for his controversial work on sovereignty, the concept of the political (friend-enemy distinction), and the state of exception.

Quotes by Carl Schmitt

Democracy is the identity of the ruler and the ruled, the people as subject and object of the political unity.

Roman Catholicism and Political Form 1923

The partisan is the true apostle of the real enemy.

Theory of the Partisan 1963

Humanity is not a political concept.

The Concept of the Political 1927

The absolute state of exception is the complete suspension of the legal order.

Political Theology 1922

Every norm presupposes a normal situation.

Political Theology 1922

The miracle is the suspension of the natural order.

Political Theology 1922

Political concepts are born in concrete situations.

The Concept of the Political 1927

The enemy is the other, the stranger; and it is difficult for modern eyes to feel this.

The Concept of the Political 1927

The state as an organized political unity decides whether there is an enemy and not automatically, as in the case of a personal duel.

The Concept of the Political 1927

Liberalism is a critique of the state, but it cannot escape the state.

The Concept of the Political 1932

The essence of the state is the monopoly of decision.

Political Theology 1922

In theology, the miracle is the decision; in jurisprudence, it is the exception.

Political Theology 1922

The political is the most intense and extreme antagonism.

The Concept of the Political 1927

Telluric nomos is the order of the earth, bound to the soil.

The Nomos of the Earth 1950

The age of neutrality is over; the age of the partisan begins.

Theory of the Partisan 1963

Constitution is the concrete political decision.

Constitutional Theory 1928

The friend-enemy distinction is the political criterion par excellence.

The Concept of the Political 1927

Secularization is a process of transformation of theological concepts.

Political Theology 1922

The state is sovereignty in action.

Political Theology 1922

Every fundamental concept of state has a theological origin.

Political Theology 1922