The success of most things depends upon knowing how long it will take to succeed.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUPower ought to serve as a check to power.
More Baron de Montesquieu Quotes
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An injustice to one is a threat made to all
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There should be weeping at a man’s birth, not at his death.
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It is clear that in a monarchy, where he who commands the exceution of the laws generally thinks himself above them, there is lessneed of virtue than in a popular government, where the person entrusted with the execution of the laws is sensible of his being subject to their direction.
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Men in excess of happiness or misery are equally inclined to severity. Witness conquerors and monks! It is mediocrity alone, and a mixture of prosperous and adverse fortune that inspire us with lenity and pity.
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Slowness is frequently the cause of much greater slowness.
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To love to read is to exchange hours of ennui for hours of delight.
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The alms given to a naked man in the street do not fulfil the obligations of the state, which owes to every citizen a certain subsistence, a proper nourishment, convenient clothing, and a kind of life not incompatible with health.
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Every man who has power is impelled to abuse it.
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The power of divorce can be given only to those who feel the inconveniences of marriage, and who are sensible of the moment when it is for their interest to make them cease.
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If triangles had a god, he would have three sides.
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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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Nature is just to all mankind, and repays them for their industry. She renders them industrious by annexing rewards in proportion to their labor.
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There have never been so many civil wars as in the Kingdom of Christ.
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The Ottoman Empire whose sick body was not supported by a mild and regular diet, but by a powerful treatment, which continually exhausted it.
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As men are affected in all ages by the same passions, the occasions which bring about great changes are different, but the causes are always the same.
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Liberty itself has appeared intolerable to those nations who have not been accustomed to enjoy it.
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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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Law should be like death, which spares no one.
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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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In the matter of dress one should always keep below one’s ability.
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The law of nations is naturally founded on this principle, that different nations ought in time of peace to do one another all the good they can, and in time of war as little injury as possible, without prejudicing their real interests.
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A rational army would run away.
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The prejudices of superstition are superior to all others, and have the strongest influence on the human mind.
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Liberty… is there only when there is no abuse of power.
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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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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