“If a human creature is composed of two beings, and if the acknowledgment of the necessity of preserving their union is the chief mark of submission to the decrees of our Creator, that necessity should be made a religious law;… — Montesquieu Copy Share Image
“Every man is capable of doing good to another, but to contribute to the happiness of an entire society is to become akin to… — Montesquieu Copy Share
“We are so blind that we know neither when to mourn, nor when to rejoice; our mirth and our sadness are nearly always false.” — Montesquieu Copy Share
“The desire for glory is no different from that instinct for preservation that is common to all creatures. It is as if we enhance… — Montesquieu Copy Share
“The public revenues are a portion that each subject gives of his property, in order to secure or enjoy the remainder.” — Montesquieu Copy Share
“The right of conquest is not a right. A society can be founded only with the consent of its members. If it is destroyed… — Montesquieu Copy Share
“One of them said to me once, “I believe in the immortality of the soul for six months at a time; my opinions depend… — Montesquieu Copy Share
“History is full of religious wars; but, we must take care to observe, it was not the multiplicity of religions that produced these wars,… — Montesquieu Copy Share
“[92] Plato, in his fourth book of Laws, says that the præfectures of music and gymnic exercises are the most important employments in the… — Montesquieu Copy Share
“As with their fashions, so is it with their customs and style of living: French manners change with the age of the king. The… — Montesquieu Copy Share
“MOST legislators have been men of inferior capacity whom chance exalted over their fellows, and who took counsel almost exclusively of their own prejudices… — Montesquieu Copy Share
“Democratic and aristocratic states are not in their own nature free. Political liberty is to be found only in moderate governments; and even in… — Montesquieu Copy Share
“I can assure you that no kingdom has ever had as many civil wars as the kingdom of Christ.” — Montesquieu Copy Share
“I have seen descriptions of Paradise sufficient to make all sensible people give up their hopes of it.” — Montesquieu Copy Share
“I believe it to be true that if men were virtuous, they would have no friends.” — Montesquieu Copy Share
