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Men Quotes by Baron de Montesquieu
- Laws, in their most general signification, are the necessary relations arising from the nature of things. In this sense all beings have their laws: the…
- There is only one thing that can form a bond between men, and that is gratitude... we cannot give someone else greater power over us…
- Men should be bewailed at their birth, and not at their death.
- The less men think, the more they talk.
- In republican governments, men are all equal; equal they are also in despotic governments: in the former, because they are everything; in the latter, because…
- But constant experience shows us that every man invested with power is apt to abuse it, and to carry his authority as far as it…
- Society is the union of men and not the men themselves.
- Love of reading enables a man to exchange the weary hours, which come to every one, for hours of delight.
- Men, who are rogues individually, are in the mass very honorable people.
- Slavery, properly so called, is the establishment of a right which gives to one man such a power over another as renders him absolute master…
- There should be weeping at a man's birth, not at his death.
- As soon as man enters into a state of society he loses the sense of his weakness; equality ceases, and then commences the state of…
- Every man who has power is impelled to abuse it.
- A really intelligent man feels what other men only know.
- Sometimes a man who deserves to be looked upon because he is a fool is despised only because he is a lawyer.
- The majority of men are more capable of great actions than of good ones.
- It is requisite the government be so constituted as one man need not be afraid of another.
- Those who have few affairs to attend to are great speakers. The less men think, the more they talk.
- Man, as a physical being, is like other bodies governed by invariable laws.
- Wherever I find envy I take a pleasure in provoking it: I always praise before an envious man those who make him grow pale.
- False happiness renders men stern and proud, and that happiness is never communicated. True happiness renders them kind and sensible, and that happiness is always…
- If I knew of something that could serve my nation but would ruin another, I would not propose it to my prince, for I am…
- What unhappy beings men are! They constantly waver between false hopes and silly fears, and instead of relying on reason they create monsters to frighten…
- 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 is rare to find learned men who are clean, do not stink and have a sense of humour.
More Men Quotes
- Wherever the relevance of speech is at stake, matters become political by definition, for speech is what makes man a political being. — Hannah Arendt
- The ultimate end of human acts is eudaimonia, happiness in the sense of living well, which all men desire; all acts are… — Hannah Arendt
- Man cannot be free if he does not know that he is subject to necessity, because his freedom is always won in… — Hannah Arendt
- Flattery and deceit are the darlings of great men, and so with these men spread the butter on thick, if you want… — Pietro Aretino
- I am a free man. I do not need to copy Petrarca or Boccaccio. My own genius is enough. Let others worry… — Pietro Aretino
- Let each man exercise the art he knows. — Aristophanes
- A man's homeland is wherever he prospers. — Aristophanes
- Men of sense often learn from their enemies. It is from their foes, not their friends, that cities learn the lesson of… — Aristophanes
- My best friend is the man who in wishing me well wishes it for my sake. — Aristotle
- Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers. — Aristotle
- At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst. — Aristotle
- Jealousy is both reasonable and belongs to reasonable men, while envy is base and belongs to the base, for the one makes… — Aristotle