Montesquieu Quotes

128 Sourced Quotes

The ancient books are for authors; the new ones, for readers.

Montesquieu
The deterioration of a government begins almost always by the decay of its principles.

Montesquieu
Christianity stamped its character on jurisprudence; for empire has ever a connection with the priesthood.

Montesquieu
In most things success depends on knowing how long it takes to succeed.

Montesquieu
Of all kind of authors there are none I despise more than compilers, who search every where for shreds of other men's works, which they join to their own, like so many pieces of green turf in a garden: they are not at all superior to compositors in a printing house, who range the types, which, collected together, make a book, towards which they contribute nothing but the labours of the hand. I would have original writers respected, and it seems to me a kind of profanation to take those pieces from the sanctuary in which they reside, and to expose them to a contempt they do not deserve. When a man hath nothing new to say, why does not he hold his tongue? What business have we with this double employment?

Montesquieu
Christians are beginning to lose the spirit of intolerance which animated them: experience has shown the error of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, and of the persecution of those Christians in France whose belief differed a little from that of the king. They have realized that zeal for the advancement of religion is different from a due attachment to it; and that in order to love it and fulfill its behests, it is not necessary to hate and persecute those who are opposed to it.

Montesquieu
The alms given to a naked man in the street do not fulfil the obligations of the state, which owes to every citizen a certain subsistence, a proper nourishment, convenient clothing, and a kind of life not incompatible with health.

Montesquieu
Horace and Aristotle told us of the virtues of their fathers, and the vices of their own time, and authors down through the centuries have told us the same. If they were right, men would now be bears.

Montesquieu
The public revenues are a portion that each subject gives of his property, in order to secure or enjoy the remainder.

Montesquieu
I have read descriptions of Paradise that would make any sensible person stop wanting to go there.

Montesquieu
Not to be loved is a misfortune, but it is an insult to be loved no longer.

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

Montesquieu
To enjoy reading is to transform wearisome hours into delightful ones.

Montesquieu
It is difficult for the united states to be all of equal power and extent.

Montesquieu
Honor sets all the parts of the body politic in motion, and by its very action connects them; thus each individual advances the public good, while he only thinks of promoting his own interest.

Montesquieu
[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.

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

Montesquieu
This state [England] will perish when legislative power is more corrupt than executive power.

Montesquieu
People here argue about religion interminably, but it appears that they are competing at the same time to see who can be the least devout.

Montesquieu
It has eternally been observed that any man who has power is led to abuse it.

Montesquieu
The sublimity of administration consists in knowing the proper degree of power that should be exerted on different occasions.

Montesquieu
Politics are a smooth file, which cuts gradually, and attains its end by slow progression.

Montesquieu
The state of slavery is in its own nature bad. It is neither useful to the master nor to the slave; not to the slave, because he can do nothing through a motive of virtue; nor to the master, because by having an unlimited authority over his slaves he insensibly accustoms himself to the want of all moral virtues, and thence becomes fierce, hasty, severe, choleric, voluptuous, and cruel. … where it is of the utmost importance that human nature should not be debased or dispirited, there ought to be no slavery.

Montesquieu
It is a misfortune for a woman never to be loved, but it is a humiliation to be loved no more.

Montesquieu
Study has been my sovereign remedy against the worries of life. I have never had a care that an hour's reading could not dispel.

Montesquieu
There is only one thing that can form a bond between men, and that is gratitude... we cannot give someone else greater power over us than we have ourselves.

Montesquieu
There are countries where a man is worth nothing; there are others where he is worth less than nothing.

Montesquieu
Liberty is the right of doing whatever the laws permit.

Montesquieu
The principle of democracy is corrupted not only when the spirit of equality is lost but also when the spirit of extreme equality is taken up and each one wants to be the equal of those chosen to command.

Montesquieu
The history of commerce is that of the communication of the people.

Montesquieu