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Power ought to serve as a check to power.

Baron de Montesquieu

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Baron de Montesquieu
Power
Check
Checks
Serve
Ought

More quotes by Baron de Montesquieu

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The less luxury there is in a republic, the more it is perfect.
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Men in excess of happiness or misery are equally inclined to severity. Witness conquerors and monks! It is mediocrity alone, and a mixture of prosperous and adverse fortune that inspire us with lenity and pity.
Baron de Montesquieu
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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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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.
Baron de Montesquieu
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Mediocrity is a hand-rail.
Baron de Montesquieu
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...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
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Men, who are rogues individually, are in the mass very honorable people.
Baron de Montesquieu
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A nation may lose its liberties in a day and not miss them in a century.
Baron de Montesquieu
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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
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Success in the majority of circumstances depends on knowing how long it takes to succeed.
Baron de Montesquieu
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Republics come to an end by luxurious habits monarchies by poverty.
Baron de Montesquieu
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Every man who has power is impelled to abuse it.
Baron de Montesquieu
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Laws, in their most general signification, are the necessary relations derived from the nature of things.
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
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There are countries where a man is worth nothing there are others where he is worth less than nothing.
Baron de Montesquieu
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At our coming into the world we contract an immense debt to our country, which we can never discharge.
Baron de Montesquieu
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No kingdom has shed more blood than the kingdom of Christ.
Baron de Montesquieu
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To love to read is to exchange hours of ennui for hours of delight.
Baron de Montesquieu
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Laws undertake to punish only overt acts.
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