34 Notable Quotes By Montesquieu
I have never known any distress that an hour’s reading did not relieve.
There is no greater tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of the law and in the name of justice.
Useless laws weaken the necessary laws.
If one only wished to be happy, this could be easily accomplished; but we wish to be happier than other people, and this is always difficult, for we believe others to be happier than they are.
An author is a fool who, not content with boring those he lives with, insists on boring future generations.
What unhappy beings men are! They constantly waver between false hopes and silly fears, and instead of relying on reason they create monsters to frighten themselves with, and phantoms which lead them astray.
Every man is capable of doing good to another, but to contribute to the happiness of an entire society is to become akin to the gods
Nothing is a greater obstacle to our progress in knowledge, than a bad performance of a celebrated author; because, before we instruct we must begin with undeceiving.
It is not the young people that degenerate; they are not spoiled till those of maturer age are already sunk into corruption.
I have always observed that to succeed in the world one should appear like a fool but be wise.
We receive three educations, one from our parents, one from our school masters, and one from the world. The third contradicts all that the first two teach us.
I can assure you that no kingdom has ever had as many civil wars as the kingdom of Christ.
...when the laws have ceased to be executed, as this can only come from the corruption of the republic, the state is already lost.
The Tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy.
Very good laws may be ill timed.
With truths of a certain kind, it is not enough to make them appear convincing: one must also make them felt. Of such kind are moral truths.
Do you think that God will punish them for not practicing a religion which he did not reveal to them?
If triangles made a god, they would give him three sides.
The success of most things depends upon knowing how long it will take to succeed.
Mediocrity is a hand-rail.
A truly virtuous man would come to the aid of the most distant stranger as quickly as to his own friend. If men were perfectly virtuous, they wouldn’t have friends.
If only we wanted to be happy, it would be easy; but we want to be happier than other people, which is difficult, since we think them happier than they are.
One more organ or one less in our body would give us a different intelligence. In fact, all the established laws as to why our body is a certain way would be different if our body were not that way.
I have never known any distress that an hour's reading did not relieve
Countries are well cultivated, not as they are fertile, but as they are free.
The history of commerce is that of the communication of the people.
Talent is a gift which God has given us secretly, and which we reveal without perceiving it.
A conqueror, I say, can change the course of everything, and muffled tyranny is the first thing which is liable to violence.
I've never known any distress that an hour's reading didn't relieve.
When the savages of Louisiana are desirous of fruit, they cut the tree to the root and gather the fruit. This is an emblem of despotic government.
