There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUThere is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUThat 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.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEULove of reading enables a man to exchange the weary hours, which come to every one, for hours of delight.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUMan, as a physical being, is like other bodies governed by invariable laws.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUDo you think that God will punish them for not practicing a religion which he did not reveal to them?
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUKnowledge humanizes mankind, and reason inclines to mildness; but prejudices eradicate every tender disposition.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUIn the state of nature… all men are born equal, but they cannot continue in this equality. Society makes them lose it, and they recover it only by the protection of the law.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUFalse happiness renders men stern and proud, and that happiness is never communicated. True happiness renders them kind and sensible, and that happiness is always shared.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEULiberty… is there only when there is no abuse of power.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUI like peasants-they are not sophisticated enough to reason speciously.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUWhen the [law making] and [law enforcement] powers are united in the same person… there can be no liberty.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUHonor is unknown in despotic states.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUThe deterioration of every government begins with the decay of the principles on which it was founded.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUWhen a government is arrived to that degree of corruption as to be incapable of reforming itself, it would not lose much by being new moulded.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUPassion makes us feel, but never see clearly.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUStudy has been for me the sovereign remedy against all the disappointments of life. I have never known any trouble that an hour’s reading would not dissipate.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU