In the infancy of societies, the chiefs of state shape its institutions; later the institutions shape the chiefs of state.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEUThere are only two cases in which war is just: first, in order to resist the aggression of an enemy, and second, in order to help an ally who has been attacked.
More Baron de Montesquieu Quotes
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It is unreasonable … to oblige a man not to attempt the defense of his own life.
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Life was given to me as a favor, so I may abandon it when it is one no longer.
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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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Study 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.
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If I knew of something that could serve my nation but would ruin another, I would not propose it to my prince, for I am first a man and only then a Frenchman… because I am necessarily a man, and only accidentally am I French.
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It is difficult for the united states to be all of equal power and extent.
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To love to read is to exchange hours of ennui for hours of delight.
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Vanity and pride of nations; vanity is as advantageous to a government as pride is dangerous.
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If one only wished to be happy, this could be easily accomplished; but we wish to be happier that other people, and this is always difficult, for we believe others to be happier than they are. you are comparing your lot with an ideal which is of course better and therefore you feel worse
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The pagan religion, which prohibited only some of the grosser crimes, and which stopped the hand but meddled not with the heart, might have crimes that were inexplicable.
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A rational army would run away.
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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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Not to be loved is a misfortune, but it is an insult to be loved no longer.
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Raillery is a mode of speaking in favor of one’s wit at the expense of one’s better nature.
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The incomparable stupidity of life teaches us to love our parents; divine philosophy teaches us to forgive them.
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In bodies moved, the motion is received, increased, diminished, or lost, according to the relations of the quantity of matter and velocity; each diversity is uniformity, each change is constancy.
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If you would be holy, instruct your children, because all the good acts they perform will be imputed to you.
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The severity of the laws prevents their execution.
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A fondness for reading changes the inevitable dull hours of our life into exquisite hours of delight.
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I shall be obliged to wander to the right and to the left, that I may investigate and discover the truth.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU -
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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There is hardly any grief that an hour’s reading will not dissipate.
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Vitam Impendere Vero (I consecrate my life to truth).
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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.
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Republics come to an end by luxurious habits; monarchies by poverty.
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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.
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU