A man who writes well writes not as others write, but as he himself writes; it is often in speaking badly that he speaks well.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUWherever I find envy I take a pleasure in provoking it: I always praise before an envious man those who make him grow pale.
More Baron de Montesquieu Quotes
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I like peasants-they are not sophisticated enough to reason speciously.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU -
Political liberty is to be found only in moderate governments.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU -
There are three species of government: republican, monarchical, and despotic.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU -
Fain would I glide down a gentle river, but I am carried away by a torrent.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU -
The coffee is prepared in such a way that it makes those who drink it witty: at least there is not a single soul who, on quitting the house, does not believe himself four times wittier that when he entered it.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU -
Very good laws may be ill timed.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU -
Liberty is the right to do what the law permits.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU -
It is rare to find learned men who are clean, do not stink and have a sense of humour.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU -
Solemnity is the shield of idiots
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU -
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.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU -
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.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU -
The tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU -
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.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU -
Law should be like death, which spares no one.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU -
A nation may lose its liberties in a day and not miss them in a century.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU