Montesquieu

“Men, who are rogues individually, are in the mass very honorable people.”

“Author: A fool who, not content with having bored those who have lived with him, insists on tormenting generations to come.”

“Not to be loved is a misfortune, but it is an insult to be loved no longer.”

“There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice.”

“Liberty is the right to do what the law permits.”

“Useless laws weaken the necessary laws.”

“A nation may lose its liberties in a day and not miss them in a century.”

“Lunch kills half of Paris, supper the other half.”

“A man should be mourned at his birth, not at his death.”

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

“I have always observed that to succeed in the world one should seem a fool, but be wise.”

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

“Liberty is the right of doing whatever the laws permit.”

“When the body of the people is possessed of the supreme power, it is called a democracy.”

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

“There is no nation so powerful, as the one that obeys its laws not from principals of fear or reason, but from passion.”

“Laws undertake to punish only overt acts.”

“Republics end through luxury; monarchies through poverty.”

“Luxury ruins republics; poverty, monarchies.”

“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 shared.”