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If I knew something that would serve my country but would harm mankind, I would never reveal it for I am a citizen of humanity first and by necessity, and a citizen of France second, and only by accident
Baron de Montesquieu
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Baron de Montesquieu
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More quotes by Baron de Montesquieu
In the matter of dress one should always keep below one's ability.
Baron de Montesquieu
A rational army would run away.
Baron de 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.
Baron de Montesquieu
I shall be obliged to wander to the right and to the left, that I may investigate and discover the truth.
Baron de Montesquieu
The spirit of commerce... renders every man willing to live on his own property...& prevents the growth of luxury.
Baron de Montesquieu
Sometimes a man who deserves to be looked upon because he is a fool is despised only because he is a lawyer.
Baron de Montesquieu
An empire founded by war has to maintain itself by war.
Baron de Montesquieu
The public business must be carried on with a certain motion, neither too quick nor too slow.
Baron de Montesquieu
We ought to be very cautious and circumspect in the prosecution of magic and heresy. The attempt to put down these two crimes may be extremely perilous to liberty.
Baron de Montesquieu
Those who have few affairs to attend to are great speakers. The less men think, the more they talk.
Baron de Montesquieu
I have read descriptions of Paradise that would make any sensible person stop wanting to go there.
Baron de Montesquieu
Virtue in a republic is the love of one's country, that is the love of equality.
Baron de Montesquieu
When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or in the same body of magistrates, there can be no liberty because apprehensions may arise, lest the same monarch or senate should enact tyrannical laws, to execute them in a tyrannical manner.
Baron de Montesquieu
...when the laws have ceased to be executed, as this can only come from the corruption of the republic, the state is already lost.
Baron de Montesquieu
You have to study a great deal to know a little.
Baron de Montesquieu
What cowardice it is to be dismayed by the happiness of others and devastated by there good fortune.
Baron de Montesquieu
Fain would I glide down a gentle river, but I am carried away by a torrent.
Baron de Montesquieu
Success in the majority of circumstances depends on knowing how long it takes to succeed.
Baron de Montesquieu
In the state of nature... all men are born equal, but they cannot continue in this equality. Society makes them lose it, and they recover it only by the protection of the law.
Baron de Montesquieu
That anyone who possesses power has a tendency to abuse it is an eternal truth. They tend to go as far as the barriers will allow.
Baron de Montesquieu
