Home > Author > Montesquieu
41 " Not to be loved is a misfortune, but it is an insult to be loved no longer. "
― Montesquieu , Persian Letters
42 " The political liberty, of the subject, (separation of powers), is a tranquility of mind arising from the opinion each person has of [their] safety. In order to have this liberty. It is requisite the government be so constituted as one [person] need not to be afraid of another."Baron de Montesquieu,Spirit of laws1748 "
― Montesquieu , The Spirit of the Laws
43 " Christians are beginning to lose the spirit of intolerance which animated them... They have realized that zeal for the advancement of religion is different from a due attachment to it; and that in order to love it and fulfil its behests, it is not necessary to hate and persecute those who are opposed to it. "
― Montesquieu
44 " Aimer à lire, c'est faire un échange des heures d'ennui que l'on doit avoir dans sa vie, contre des heures délicieuses. "
― Montesquieu , Pensieri
45 " If the triangles made a god, they would give him three sides. "
46 " Rhedi: I am always afraid that they will eventually succeed in discovering some secret which will provide a quicker way of making men die, and exterminate whole countries and nations.Usbek: No, if such a fateful invention came to be discovered, it would soon be banned by international law; by the unanimous consent of every country the discovery would be buried. "
47 " Talent is a gift which God has given us secretly, and which we reveal without perceiving it. "
48 " My dear Usbek, when women feel, as they lose their attractiveness, that their end is coming in advance, they would like to go backwards to youth again. How could they possibly not attempt to deceive other people? - they make every effort to deceive themselves, and to escape from the most distressing thought we can have. "
49 " Nothing is a greater obstacle to our progress in knowledge, than a bad performance of a celebrated author; because, before we instruct we must begin with undeceiving. "
50 " il faut vivre avec les hommes tels qu ils sont : les gens qu on dit etre de si bonne compagnie ne sont souvent que ceux dont les vices sont plus raffines ; et peut-etre en est-il comme des poisons, dont les plus subtils sont aussi les plus dangereux. "
51 " If we only wanted to be happy, it would be easy; but we want to be happier than other people, and that is almost always difficult, since we think them happier than they are. "
52 " Knowledge makes men gentle; reason leads to humanity; but prejudices can only eradicate both these dispositions. "
53 " I've never known any trouble that an hour's worth of reading didn't assauge "
54 " Countries are well cultivated, not as they are fertile, but as they are free. "
55 " What I have here advanced is confirmed by the unanimous testimony of historians, and is extremely agreeable to the nature of things. For it is clear that in a monarchy, where he who commands the execution of the laws generally thinks himself above them, there is less need of virtue than in a popular government, where the person entrusted with the execution of the laws is sensible of his being subject to their direction. "
56 " The history of commerce is that of the communication of the people. "
57 " I have read descriptions of Paradise that would make any sensible person stop wanting to go there. "
58 " C est le tyran qui m outrage, et non pas celui qui exerce la tyrannie "
59 " I've never known any trouble that an hour's reading didn't assuage. "
60 " A person of my acquaintance said: . . .'Study has always been for me the sovereign remedy against life's unpleasantness, since I have never experienced any sorrow that an hour's reading did not eliminate. "