Political liberty is to be found only in moderate governments.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUAs soon as man enters into a state of society he loses the sense of his weakness; equality ceases, and then commences the state of war.
More Baron de Montesquieu Quotes
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[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 -
Slowness is frequently the cause of much greater slowness.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU -
Republics end through luxury; monarchies through poverty.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU -
Better it is to say that the government most comfortable to nature is that which best agrees with the humor and disposition of the people in whose favor it is established.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU -
When the [law making] and [law enforcement] powers are united in the same person… there can be no liberty.
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To love to read is to exchange hours of ennui for hours of delight.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU -
Man, as a physical being, is like other bodies governed by invariable laws.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU -
Love of reading enables a man to exchange the weary hours, which come to every one, for hours of delight.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU -
Europe is a state with several provinces
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU -
Great commanders write their actions with simplicity; because they receive more glory from facts than from words.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU -
Law in general is human reason, inasmuch as it governs all the inhabitants of the earth: the political and civil laws of each nation ought to be only the particular cases in which human reason is applied.
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When the savages of Louisiana wish to have fruit, they cut the tree at the bottom and gather the fruit. That is exactly a despotic government.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU -
Success in the majority of circumstances depends on knowing how long it takes to succeed.
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At our coming into the world we contract an immense debt to our country, which we can never discharge.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU -
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.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU