Ironically, terrorism in its original context was closely
associated with the ideals of virtue and democracy. The revolutionary leader
Maximilien Robespierre firmly believed that virtue was the mainspring of a
popular government at peace, but that during the time of revolution must be
allied with terror in order for democracy to triumph. He appealed famously to ‘virtue,
without which terror is evil; terror, without which virtue is helpless’ and
proclaimed, ‘Terror is nothing but justice, prompt, severe and inflexible; it
is therefore an emanation of virtue.’
Hoffman, Bruce. Inside Terrorism. pp. 15-16
