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There are countries where a man is worth nothing; there are others where he is worth less than nothing.

Baron de Montesquieu

I shall ever repeat it, that mankind are governed not by extremes, but by principals of moderation.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU

Extremes Mankind Moderation
There are bad examples which are worse than crimes; and more states have perished from the violation of morality than from the violation of law.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU

Example Law Morality
A really intelligent man feels what other men only know.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU

Feels Intelligent Men
There should be weeping at a man’s birth, not at his death.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU

Birth Death Men Weep
Ever since the invention of gunpowder.. I continually tremble lest men should, in the end, uncover some secret which would provide a short way of abolishing mankind, of annihilating peoples and nations in their entirety.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU

Gunpowder Men Secret
In the infancy of societies, the chiefs of state shape its institutions; later the institutions shape the chiefs of state.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU

Institutions Shapes States
The history of commerce is that of the communication of the people.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU

Commerce Communication People
The severity of the laws prevents their execution.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU

Execution Law Philosophical
[The Pope] will make the king believe that three are only one, that the bread he eats is not bread… and a thousand other things of the same kind.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU

Believe Kings Religion
Talent is a gift which God has given us secretly, and which we reveal without perceiving it.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU

Given Philosophical Talent
The mood and temper of the public in regard to the treatment of crime and criminals is one of the most unfailing tests of the civilisation of any country.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU

Country Criminals Tests
The English are busy folk; they have no time in which to be polite.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU

Busy Polite Time
Love of reading enables a man to exchange the weary hours, which come to every one, for hours of delight.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU

Library Men Reading
Slavery, properly so called, is the establishment of a right which gives to one man such a power over another as renders him absolute master of his life and fortune.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU

Giving Men Slavery
Never create by law what can be accomplished by morality.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU

Courage Law Morality
The less men think, the more they talk.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU

Men Philosophical Thinking

There are countries where a man is worth nothing; there are others where he is worth less than nothing.

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There are countries where a man is worth nothing; there are others where he is worth less than nothing.

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