Montesquieu Quotes

No tyranny is more cruel than the one practiced in the shadow of the laws and under color of justice — when, so to speak, one proceeds to drown the unfortunate on the very plank by which they had saved themselves.

I can assure you that no kingdom has ever had as many civil wars as the kingdom of Christ.

Il y a chez les sauvages une autre coutume qui n'est pas moins pernicieuse que la première : c'est la cruelle habitude où sont les femmes de se faire avorter, afin que leur grossesse ne les rende pas désagréables à leurs maris.

As-tu bien réfléchi à l'état barbare et malheureux où nous entraînerait la perte des arts ?

...when the laws have ceased to be executed, as this can only come from the corruption of the republic, the state is already lost.

On remarque que, dans les pays où l'on met dans les mains paternelles plus de récompenses et de punitions, les familles sont mieux réglées : les pères sont l'image du créateur de l'univers, qui, quoiqu'il puisse conduire les hommes par son amour, ne laisse pas de se les attacher encore par les motifs de l'espérance et de la crainte.

I've never known any trouble that an hour's worth of reading didn't assauge

La société est fondée sur un avantage mutuel.

The less men think, the more they talk

Translation: The success of most things depends upon knowing how long it will take to succeed.

I have never known any distress that an hour's reading did not relieve.

C est le tyran qui m outrage, et non pas celui qui exerce la tyrannie

Oh, how empty is praise when it reflects back to its origin!

History is full of religious wars; but, we must take care to observe, it was not the multiplicity of religions that produced these wars, it was the intolerating spirit which animated that one which thought she had the power of governing.

Countries are well cultivated, not as they are fertile, but as they are free.