You have to study a great deal to know a little.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUYou have to study a great deal to know a little.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU[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 MONTESQUIEUWe must have constantly present in our minds the difference between independence and liberty. Liberty is a right of doing whatever the laws permit, and if a citizen could do what they forbid he would no longer be possessed of liberty.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUThere is a very good saying that if triangles invented a god, they would make him three-sided.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUWhen virtue is banished, ambition invades the minds of those who are disposed to receive it and avarice possesses the whole community.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUThere are three species of government: republican, monarchical, and despotic.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUThe history of commerce is that of the communication of the people.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUMen 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.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU…when the laws have ceased to be executed, as this can only come from the corruption of the republic, the state is already lost.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUAn injustice to one is a threat made to all
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUWe ought to be very cautious and circumspect in the prosecution of magic and heresy. The attempt to put down these two crimes may be extremely perilous to liberty.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUTo lend money without interest, is certainly an action laudable and extremely good; but it is obvious, that it is only a counsel of religion, and not a civil law.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUThe 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.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUWonderful maxim: not to talk of things any more after they are done.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUThere is hardly any grief that an hour’s reading will not dissipate.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUPolitical 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.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU