“The history of commerce is that of the communication of the people.”

I like peasants-they are not sophisticated enough to reason speciously.

There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice.

Republics are brought to their ends by luxury; monarchies by poverty.

Better it is to say that the government most comfortable to nature is that which best agrees with the humor and disposition of the people in whose favor it is established.

If I knew something that would serve my country but would harm mankind, I would never reveal it; for I am a citizen of humanity first and by necessity, and a citizen of France second, and only by accident

I never listen to calumnies, because if they are untrue I run the risk of being deceived, and if they be true, of hating persons not worth thinking about.

I have always observed that to succeed in the world one should seem a fool, but be wise.

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.

In the infancy of societies, the chiefs of state shape its institutions; later the institutions shape the chiefs of state.

To succeed in the world we must look foolish but be wise.

A good writer does not write as people write, but as he writes.

You have to study a great deal to know a little.

There have never been so many civil wars as in the Kingdom of Christ.

Human laws made to direct the will ought to give precepts, and not counsels.

The severity of the laws prevents their execution.

Men, who are rogues individually, are in the mass very honorable people.