Baron de Montesquieu, fully Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu

The culminating point of administration is to know well how much power, great or small, we ought to use in all circumstances.

The less men think, the more they talk.

The Pope will make the king believe that three are only one, that the bread he eats is not bread...and a thousand other things of the same kind.

There are only two cases in which war is just: first, in order to resist the aggression of an enemy, and second, in order to help an ally who has been attacked.

Thus the creation, which seems an arbitrary act, supposes laws as invariable as those of the fatality of the Atheists. It would be absurd to say that the Creator might govern the world without those rules, since without them it could not subsist.

What orators lack in depth they make up for in length.

The culture of lands requires the use of money.

The life of states is like that of men. The latter have the right of killing in self-defense; the former to make wars for their own preservation.

The prejudices of superstition are superior to all others, and have the strongest influence on the human mind.

There are three species of government: republican, monarchical, and despotic.

To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them.

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 themselves with, and phantoms which lead them astray.

The desire for glory is no different from that instinct for preservation that is common to all creatures. It is as if we Enhance our being if we can gain a place in the memory of others; it is a new life That we Acquire, which Becomes as precious to us as the one we received from Heaven.

The love of country produces good manners; and good manners, love of country. - The less we satisfy our individual passions, the more we leave to our general.

The public business must be carried on with a certain motion, neither too quick nor too slow.

There is as yet no liberty if the power of judging be not separated from legislative power and the executrix.

To love to read is to exchange hours of ennui against delightful hours.

When a government is arrived to that degree of corruption as to be incapable of reforming itself, it would not lose much by being new molded.

The deterioration of a government begins almost always by the decay of its principles.

The love of reading enables a man to exchange the wearisome hours of life which come to every one for hours of delight.

The public revenues are a portion that each subject gives of his property, in order to secure or enjoy the remainder.

There is no great share of probity necessary to support a monarchical or despotic government. The force of laws in one, and the prince's arm in the other, are sufficient to direct and maintain the whole. But in a popular state, one spring more is necessary, namely, virtue.

To love to read is to exchange hours of ennui for hours of delight.

When God endowed human beings with brains, He did not intend to guarantee them.

The deterioration of every government begins with the decay of the principles on which it was founded.