Stendhal? Marie-Henri Beyle? Friedrich Nietzsche? Albert Camus? Prosper Mérimée? Apocryphal?
Question for Quote Investigator: An atheist who was angry about the state of the world crafted the following comically paradoxical saying:
The only excuse for God is that he does not exist.
This remark has been attributed to the French Romantic novelist Marie-Henri Beyle (known by his pen name Stendhal). The statement has also been credited to the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche and the French philosopher Albert Camus. Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: Marie-Henri 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 tale about Beyle. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
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. »
Here is one possible rendering into English:
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.”
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.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
In January 1951 “Revue Suisse et Chronique Littéraire” (“Swiss Review and Literary Chronicle”) in Lausanne, Switzerland discussed the pamphlet “H. B.”, and reprinted the saying in French while crediting Beyle:2
« Β …, dıt l’auteur (lisez Beyle) 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 que Dieu n’existe pas. »
In 1889 Joseph M. Wheeler published “A Biographical Dictionary of Freethinkers of All Ages and Nations”. The entry about Marie-Henri Beyle included the saying in French and English:3
He was an original and gifted critic and romancer. Balzac esteemed him highly. He died at Paris, 23 March 1842. Prosper Mérimée has published his correspondence. One of his sayings was “Ce qui excuse Dieu, c’est qu’il n’existe pas”—God’s excuse is that he does not exist.
In 1895 the London journal “The Freethinker” published an article about Friedrich Nietzsche. The author thought that Nietzsche would have liked the saying. Also, the author credited the saying to Beyle:4
His favorite authors are Machiavelli, Voltaire, Galiani, Emerson, and de Stendhal (Henri Beyle), whom he calls “the last great physiologist,” and whose saying, “What excuses God is that he does not exist,” is after his own heart.
In 1897 the French writer Jean de Tinan published “Penses-tu réussir! ou, Les diverses amours de mon ami Raoul de Vallonges” (“Do You Think You Will Succeed? or, The Various Loves of My Friend Raoul de Vallonges”). Tinan credited Stendhal with a different phrasing of the saying:5
Epoque où m’enthousiasmaient les aphorismes, où Stendhal écrivant : « La seule chose qui excuse Dieu c’est qu’il n’existe pas » me semblait un soir effacer les mysticismes …
Here is one possible rendering into English:
A time when I was captivated by aphorisms—when Stendhal, writing, “The only thing that excuses God is that He does not exist,” seemed to me one evening to sweep away all mysticism …
Friedrich Nietzsche died in 1900. His book “Ecce Homo: Wie Man Wird Was Man Ist” (“Ecce Homo: How One Becomes What One Is”) appeared posthumously in 1908. Nietzsche mentioned the saying while crediting Stendhal:6
Vielleicht bin ich selbst auf Stendhal neidisch? Er hat mir den besten Atheisten-Witz weggenommen, den gerade ich hätte machen können: „die einzige Entschuldigung Gottes ist, dass er nicht existirt“
Here is one possible translation into English:
Perhaps I am envious of Stendhal myself? He stole from me the best atheist witticism—the very one that I, of all people, could have made: “The only excuse for God is that he does not exist.”
In 1915 “The Saturday Review” of London printed a letter from a correspondent containing the following:7
What must be done is to exercise understanding in spiritual matters. Instead of regarding Stendhal’s dictum, “God’s only excuse is that He does not exist”, as the best atheistic joke, the proper course to adopt is to consider it merely a truism which nobody can deny.
In 1951 Albert Camus published “L’Homme Révolté” which contained the following passage:8
On sait que Nietzsche enviait publiquement à Stendhal sa formule : « la seule excuse de Dieu, c’est qu’il n’existe pas ». Privé de la volonté divine, le monde est privé également d’unité et de finalité. C’est pourquoi le monde ne peut être jugé. Tout jugement de valeur porté sur lui aboutit finalement à la calomnie de la vie.
In 1953 an English translation of Camus’ book titled “The Rebel” by Anthony Bower appeared, and the passage above was rendered as follows:9
We know that Nietzsche was publicly envious of Stendhal’s formula: ‘the only excuse for God is that he does not exist.’ Deprived of the divine will, the world is equally deprived of unity and finality. That is why it is impossible to pass judgment on the world. Any attempt to apply a standard of values to the world leads finally to a slander on life.
In 1967 an English translation by Walter Kaufmann of Nietzsche’s “Ecce Homo” contained the following passage:10
Perhaps I am even envious of Stendhal? He took away from me the best atheistical joke that precisely I might have made: “God’s only excuse is that he does not exist.”
In 2012 an English translation by Douglas Parmée of Prosper Mérimée’s pamphlet “H. B.” contained the following passage:11
He never had any sense of religion, or if he had it gave him a feeling of anger and resentment against Providence. “God’s only excuse,” he’d say, “is that He doesn’t exist.”
In conclusion, Marie-Henri Beyle (Stendhal) deserves credit for this saying based on the testimony of Prosper Mérimée published in the 1850 pamphlet titled “H. B.” Thus, the accuracy of the quotation and ascription is dependent on the veracity of Mérimée. Friedrich Nietzsche and Albert Camus employed the saying, but they both credited Stendhal.
Image Notes: Silhouette of a person contemplating a star field from Greg Rakozy at Unsplash. The image has been cropped and resized.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Peter Hobbs whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration.
- 1850, Title: H. B. (Henri Beyle), Author: M. Prosper Mérimée, Quote Page 3, Publisher: Impr. de Firmin-Didot frères, Paris. (Year and author name are based on catalog entry) (Gallica BNF Bibliothèque nationale de France) link ↩︎
- 1851 Janvier (January), Revue Suisse et Chronique Littéraire (Swiss Review and Literary Chronicle), Tome Quatorzième (Volume Fourteen), Section: Chronique de la Revue Suisse, Quote Page 60, Neuchatei, Au Bureau de a Revue Suisse, A Lausanne Chez Georges Bridel Libraire (Neuchâtel, At the Office of the Swiss Review, In Lausanne At Georges Bridel Bookseller) link ↩︎
- 1889, A Biographical Dictionary of Freethinkers of All Ages and Nations by J. M. Wheeler (Joseph Mazzini Wheeler), Entry: Beyle (Marie Henri), Quote Page 42, Progressive Publishing Company, London. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1895 July 7, The Freethinker, Volume 15, Number 27, Edited by G. W. Foote (George William Foote), Friedrich Nietzsche by J. M. Wheeler, Start Page 418, Quote Page 419, Column 1, G. W. Foote, London. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1897, Penses-tu réussir ! ou, Les diverses amours de mon ami Raoul de Vallonges (Do You Think You Will Succeed? or, The Various Loves of My Friend Raoul de Vallonges) by Jean de Tinan, Quote Page 65, Société du Mercure de France, Paris. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1911, Nietzsche’s Werke (Nietzsche’s Works), Zweite Abtheilung (Second Section), Band XV (Volume 15) Siebenter Band der zweiten Abtheilung (Seventh Volume of the Second Division), Nachgelassene Werke (Posthumous Works), “Ecce homo: Wie man wird, was man ist” (“Ecce Homo: How One Becomes, What One Is”), Warum ich so klug bin (Why I Am So Clever), Quote Page 35, Alfred Kröner Verlag Leipzig. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1915 April 3, The Saturday Review, The Kaiser’s God, (Letter to the editor from Arthur Lovell), Quote Page 355, Column 2, Published at the Office of The Saturday Review, London. (HathiTrust Full View) link ↩︎
- 1951 Copyright, L’Homme Révolté by Albert Camus, Chapter: L’Affirmation Absolue, Quote Page 89 and 90, Gallimard, Paris. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1953 Copyright (1960 Reprint), The Rebel by Albert Camus, (French Title: L’Homme Révolté), Translation by Anthony Bower, Part 2: Metaphysical Rebellion, Chapter: Absolute Affirmation, Quote Page 58, Hamish Hamilton, London. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1967 Copyright, On the Genealogy of Morals Friedrich Nietzsche, Translated by Walter Kaufmann and R. J. Hollingdale, Ecce Homo by Friedrich Nietzsche, Translated by Walter Kaufmann, Why I Am So Clever, Quote Page 244, Vintage Books: A Division of Random House, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 2012, The Etruscan Vase and Other Short Stories by Prosper Mérimée, Translation by Douglas Parmée, Chapter: H. B., Quote Page 98, Alma Classics, London House, Surrey, England. (Verified with scans) ↩︎