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As virtue is necessary in a republic, and honor in a monarchy, fear is what is required in a despotism. As for virtue, it is not at all necessary, and honor would be dangerous there.

Baron de Montesquieu

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Baron de Montesquieu
Republic
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Honor
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Virtue
Fear
Despotism
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I have never known any distress that an hour's reading did not relieve.
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Fain would I glide down a gentle river, but I am carried away by a torrent.
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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.
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As men are affected in all ages by the same passions, the occasions which bring about great changes are different, but the causes are always the same.
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I never listen to calumnies, because if they are untrue I run the risk of being deceived, and if they be true, of hating persons not worth thinking about.
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Wonderful maxim: not to talk of things any more after they are done.
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There is no one, says another, whom fortune does not visit once in his life but when she does not find him ready to receive her, she walks in at the door, and flies out at the window.
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I have ever held it as a maxim never to do that through another which it was impossible for me to execute myself
Baron de Montesquieu
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Do you think that God will punish them for not practicing a religion which he did not reveal to them?
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An empire founded by war has to maintain itself by war.
Baron de Montesquieu
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Study has been for me the sovereign remedy against all the disappointments of life. I have never known any trouble that an hour's reading would not dissipate.
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What cowardice it is to be dismayed by the happiness of others and devastated by there good fortune.
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In bodies moved, the motion is received, increased, diminished, or lost, according to the relations of the quantity of matter and velocity each diversity is uniformity, each change is constancy.
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The wickedness of mankind makes it necessary for the law to suppose them better than they really are.
Baron de Montesquieu
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An injustice committed against anyone is a threat to everyone.
Baron de Montesquieu
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Raillery is a mode of speaking in favor of one's wit at the expense of one's better nature.
Baron de Montesquieu
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An author is a fool who, not content with boring those he lives with, insists on boring future generations.
Baron de Montesquieu
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Certain kinds of foolishness are such that a greater foolishness would be better.
Baron de Montesquieu
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The power of divorce can be given only to those who feel the inconveniences of marriage, and who are sensible of the moment when it is for their interest to make them cease.
Baron de Montesquieu
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The spirit of commerce... renders every man willing to live on his own property...& prevents the growth of luxury.
Baron de Montesquieu