Montesquieu quotes: wise famous quotes, sayings and quotations by Montesquieu

Montesquieu Famous Quotes & Sayings

Discover top inspirational quotes from Montesquieu on Wise Famous Quotes.

Mediocrity is a hand-rail.

Virtue has need of limits.

With truths of a certain kind, it is not enough to make them appear convincing: one must also make them felt. Of such kind are moral truths.

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

The Tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy
is not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy.

It is not the young people that degenerate; they are not spoiled till those of maturer age are already sunk into corruption.

Government should be set up so that no man need be afraid of another.

I have never known any distress that an hour's reading did not relieve.

Very good laws may be ill timed.

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

Countries are well cultivated, not as they are fertile, but as they are free.

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

When the laws have ceased to be executed, as this can only come from the corruption of the republic, the state is already lost.

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

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

Every man is capable of doing good to another, but to contribute to the happiness of an entire society is to become akin to the gods

A conqueror, I say, can change the course of everything, and muffled tyranny is the first thing which is liable to violence.

Do you think that God will punish them for not practicing a religion which he did not reveal to them?

I've never known any distress that an hour's reading didn't relieve.

Solemnity is the shield of idiots

There is no greater tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of the law and in the name of justice.

Useless laws weaken the necessary laws.

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

An author is a fool who, not content with boring those he lives with, insists on boring future generations.

When the savages of Louisiana are desirous of fruit, they cut the tree to the root and gather the fruit. This is an emblem of despotic government.