To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUKnowledge humanizes mankind, and reason inclines to mildness; but prejudices eradicate every tender disposition.
More Baron de Montesquieu Quotes
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The less men think, the more they talk.
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Love of the republic in a democracy, is a love of the democracy; love of the democracy is that of equality. Love of the democracy is likewise that of frugality.
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That anyone who possesses power has a tendency to abuse it is an eternal truth. They tend to go as far as the barriers will allow.
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The harshest tyranny is that which acts under the protection of legality and the banner of justice.
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The success of most things depends upon knowing how long it will take to succeed.
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The Ottoman Empire whose sick body was not supported by a mild and regular diet, but by a powerful treatment, which continually exhausted it.
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Coffee renders many foolish people temporarily capable of wise actions
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In the birth of societies it is the chiefs of states who give it its special character; and afterward it is this special character that forms the chiefs of state.
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Useless laws weaken the necessary laws.
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The law of nations is naturally founded on this principle, that different nations ought in time of peace to do one another all the good they can, and in time of war as little injury as possible, without prejudicing their real interests.
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There is something in animals beside the power of motion. They are not machines; they feel.
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They who assert that a blind fatality produced the various effects we behold in this world talk very absurdly; for can anything be more unreasonable than to pretend that a blind fatality could be productive of intelligent beings.
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The culminating point of administration is to know well how much power, great or small, we ought to use in all circumstances.
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The state is the association of men, and not men themselves; the citizen may perish, and the man remain.
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Religious wars are not caused by the fact that there is more than one religion, but by the spirit of intolerance… the spread of which can only be regarded as the total eclipse of human reason.
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To succeed in the world we must look foolish but be wise.
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When the savages of Louisiana wish to have fruit, they cut the tree at the bottom and gather the fruit. That is exactly a despotic government.
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If you would be holy, instruct your children, because all the good acts they perform will be imputed to you.
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When the [law making] and [law enforcement] powers are united in the same person… there can be no liberty.
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As virtue is necessary in a republic, and honor in a monarchy, fear is what is required in a despotism. As for virtue, it is not at all necessary, and honor would be dangerous there.
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There is only one thing that can form a bond between men, and that is gratitude… we cannot give someone else greater power over us than we have ourselves.
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Political liberty in a citizen is that tranquillity of spirit which comes from the opinion each one has of his security, and in order for him to have this liberty the government must be such that one citizen cannot fear another citizen.
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Injustice towards others is a threat to everybody
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Liberty itself has appeared intolerable to those nations who have not been accustomed to enjoy it.
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If we only wanted to be happy, it would be easy; but we want to be happier than other people, and that is almost always difficult, since we think them happier than they are.
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Man is a social animal formed to please in society.
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