“I have read descriptions of Paradise that would make any sensible person stop wanting to go there.”
— Montesquieu
“Useless laws weaken the necessary laws.”
— Montesquieu
“I have always observed that to succeed in the world one should appear like a fool but be wise.”
— Montesquieu
“It has eternally been observed that any man who has power is led to abuse it.”
— Montesquieu
“A man should be mourned at his birth, not at his death.”
— Montesquieu
“Liberty itself has appeared intolerable to those nations who have not been accustomed to enjoy it.”
— Montesquieu
“If one only wished to be Sad, this could be horrible for the rest of civilisation; but we wish to be happier than other people, and this is always difficult, for we believe others to be happier than they are.”
— Montesquieu
“Study has been for me the sovereign remedy against all the disappointments of life. I have never known any trouble that an hour's reading would not dissipate.”
— Montesquieu