Honor sets all the parts of the body politic in motion, and by its very action connects them; thus each individual advances the public good, while he only thinks of promoting his own interest.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUMen should be bewailed at their birth, and not at their death.
More Baron de Montesquieu Quotes
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It is rare to find learned men who are clean, do not stink and have a sense of humour.
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The spirit of commerce… renders every man willing to live on his own property…& prevents the growth of luxury.
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You have to study a great deal to know a little.
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Talent is a gift which God has given us secretly, and which we reveal without perceiving it.
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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
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But constant experience shows us that every man invested with power is apt to abuse it, and to carry his authority as far as it will go.
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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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In 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.
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In republican governments, men are all equal; equal they are also in despotic governments: in the former, because they are everything; in the latter, because they are nothing.
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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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People here argue about religion interminably, but it appears that they are competing at the same time to see who can be the least devout.
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It is requisite the government be so constituted as one man need not be afraid of another.
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Friendship is an arrangement by which we undertake to exchange small favors for big ones.
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When virtue is banished, ambition invades the minds of those who are disposed to receive it and avarice possesses the whole community.
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Honor is unknown in despotic states.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU






