Charles de Montesquieu
Quotes by Charles de Montesquieu
It is not the young people that degenerate they are not spoiled till those of mature age are already sunk into corruption.
— Charles de Montesquieu
Men should be bewailed at their birth, and not at their death.
— Charles de Montesquieu
We should weep for men at their birth, not at their death.
— Charles de Montesquieu
I have never known any distress that an hour's reading did not relieve.
— Charles de Montesquieu
There is no nation so powerful, as the one that obeys its laws not from principals of fear or reason, but from passion.
— Charles de Montesquieu
Friendship is an arrangement by which we undertake to exchange small favors for big ones.
— Charles de Montesquieu
An author is a fool who, not content with boring those he lives with, insists on boring future generations.
— Charles de Montesquieu
To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them.
— Charles de Montesquieu
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.
— Charles de Montesquieu
The less men think, the more they talk.
— Charles de Montesquieu
Peace is a natural effect of trade.
— Charles de Montesquieu
The sublimity of administration consists in knowing the proper degree of power that should be exerted on different occasions.
— Charles de Montesquieu
In most things success depends on knowing how long it takes to succeed.
— Charles de Montesquieu
Success in the majority of circumstances depends on knowing how long it takes to succeed.
— Charles de Montesquieu
An empire founded by war has to maintain itself by war.
— Charles de Montesquieu