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French civic exam 2026, Principles and values of the Republic
What is liberty?
An official question of the French civic exam, with its answer and the official text that proves it, in French and English.
Resident card no. 18
Qu'est-ce que la liberté ?
What is liberty?
Answer. Being able to do anything that does not harm others.
Pouvoir faire tout ce qui ne nuit pas aux autres.
Everyone is free, but their freedom stops where it would harm others. It is the law that sets these limits.
The official text that proves it
« La liberté consiste à pouvoir faire tout ce qui ne nuit pas à autrui : ainsi, l'exercice des droits naturels de chaque homme n'a de bornes que celles qui assurent aux autres membres de la société la jouissance de ces mêmes droits. Ces bornes ne peuvent être déterminées que par la loi. »
Liberty consists of being able to do anything that does not harm others, thus the exercise of the natural rights of every man has no limits other than those that secure the enjoyment of these same rights to the other members of society. These limits may only be set by law.
In French, with its English meaning.
Next questions in this theme
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- An employer refuses to hire women at his company. What does the law say?
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- In what year was the law separating Church and State passed?
- In public schools, who is allowed to wear highly visible religious symbols?
All 521 official questions, in French and English
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Questions from the official lists of the French Ministry of the Interior, quotations from the civic training sheets, the Constitution and the 1789 Declaration, Licence Ouverte Etalab 2.0. This is not a government site. The official sheets are free, in French, on formation-civique.interieur.gouv.fr.
