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 … - Montesquieu

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.

Government should be set up so that no man need be afraid of another.

There is no greater tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of the law and in the name of justice. (Cambridge University Press (September 29, 1989)

Voilà comment un seul homme occupe à ses plaisirs tant de sujets de l'un et de l'autre sexe, les fait mourir pour l'Etat, et les rend inutiles à la propagation de l'espèce.