Montesquieu Quotes

Montesquieu

Profession : Philosopher

Birth : January 18, 1689

The spirit of moderation should also be the spirit of the lawgiver.

Montesquieu

I have always observed that to succeed in the world one should seem a fool, but be wise.

Montesquieu

The severity of the laws prevents their execution.

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

Success in the majority of circumstances depends on knowing how long it takes to succeed.

Montesquieu

When the body of the people is possessed of the supreme power, it is called a democracy.

Montesquieu

Talent is a gift which God has given us secretly, and which we reveal without perceiving it.

Montesquieu

As soon as man enters into a state of society he loses the sense of his weakness; equality ceases, and then commences the state of war.

Montesquieu

There is no nation so powerful, as the one that obeys its laws not from principals of fear or reason, but from passion.

Montesquieu

Slavery, properly so called, is the establishment of a right which gives to one man such a power over another as renders him absolute master of his life and fortune.

Montesquieu

Men, who are rogues individually, are in the mass very honorable people.

Montesquieu

But constant experience shows us that every man invested with power is apt to abuse it, and to carry his authority as far as it will go.

Montesquieu

It is always the adventurers who do great things, not the sovereigns of great empires.

Montesquieu

The reason the Romans built their great paved highways was because they had such inconvenient footwear.

Montesquieu

Liberty is the right of doing whatever the laws permit.

Montesquieu

Raillery is a mode of speaking in favor of one's wit at the expense of one's better nature.

Montesquieu

If the triangles made a god, they would give him three sides.

Montesquieu

Happy the people whose annals are tiresome.

Montesquieu

Laws undertake to punish only overt acts.

Montesquieu

We must have constantly present in our minds the difference between independence and liberty. Liberty is a right of doing whatever the laws permit, and if a citizen could do what they forbid he would no longer be possessed of liberty.

Montesquieu