Montesquieu Quotes
Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu, was a French philosopher and one of the architects of Enlightenment political thought. His Persian Letters satirized European customs through the eyes of imagined Persian travelers, while The Spirit of the Laws, the labor of two decades, articulated a sweeping comparative theory of forms of government and the conditions under which political liberty can flourish. The quotes below are attributed to Montesquieu, organized by topic.
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Montesquieu on Death
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“A man should be mourned at his birth , not at his death .”
Lettres Persanes(Persian Letters, 1721) | No. 40. (Usbek writing to Ibben)
Montesquieu on Freedom
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Attributed to Montesquieu:
“Liberty is the right to do what the laws permit.”
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Attributed to Montesquieu:
“When power is constant, free states will not last.”
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“In a free nation, it matters not whether individuals reason well or ill; it is sufficient that they do reason. Truth arises from the collision and from hence springs liberty, which is a security from the effects of reasoning.”
Quoted by Thomas Erskine in the trial of Thomas Paine , 1792 -
“No tyranny is more cruel than the one practiced in the shadow of the laws and under color of justice — when, so to speak, one proceeds to drown the unfortunate on the very plank by which they had saved themselves. See Chap. XIV of Considérations sur les causes de la grandeur des Romains et de leur décadence . Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline (1734), p. 89. Quoted in Steve Sheppard, I Do Solemnly Swear: The Moral Obligations of Legal Officials (2009), preface - xxiv.”
Il n’y a point de plus cruelle tyrannie que celle que l’on exerce à l’ombre des lois et avec les couleurs de la justice, lorsqu’on va, pour ainsi dire, noyer des malheureux sur la planche même sur laquelle ils s’étaient sauvés.
Montesquieu on God
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“Do you think that God will punish them for not practicing a religion which he did not reveal to them?”
Lettres Persanes(Persian Letters, 1721) | No. 35. (Usbek writing to Gemchid) -
“People here argue about religion interminably, but it appears that they are competing at the same time to see who can be the least devout.”
Lettres Persanes(Persian Letters, 1721) | No. 46. (Usbek writing to Rhedi) -
“I acknowledge that history is full of religious wars : but we must distinguish; it is not the multiplicity of religions which has produced wars; it is the intolerant spirit animating that which believed itself in the ascendant.”
Lettres Persanes(Persian Letters, 1721) | No. 86. (Usbek writing to Mirza)
Montesquieu on Happiness
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Attributed to Montesquieu:
“Constant happiness is the sign of a man who has learned to be self-sufficient.”
Montesquieu on Justice
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“Il n’y a point de plus cruelle tyrannie que celle que l’on exerce à l’ombre des lois et avec les couleurs de la justice, lorsqu’on va, pour ainsi dire, noyer des malheureux sur la planche même sur laquelle ils s’étaient sauvés.”
No tyranny is more cruel than the one practiced in the shadow of the laws and under color of justice — when, so to speak, one proceeds to drown the unfortunate on the very plank by which they had saved themselves. See Chap. XIV of Considérations sur les causes de la grandeur des Romains et de leur décadence . Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline (1734), p. -
“No tyranny is more cruel than the one practiced in the shadow of the laws and under color of justice — when, so to speak, one proceeds to drown the unfortunate on the very plank by which they had saved themselves.”
Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline(1876) | See Chap. XIV of Considérations sur les causes de la grandeur des Romains et de leur décadence . Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline (1734), p. 89. Quoted in -
“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.”
Lettres Persanes(Persian Letters, 1721) | No. 95. (Usbek writing to Rhedi) -
“I write to thee on this subject, [friend], because I am angry at a book which I have just left, which is so large, that it seems to contain universal science, but it hath almost split my head, without teaching me anything.”
Lettres Persanes(Persian Letters, 1721) | No. 66.
Montesquieu on Knowledge
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“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.”
As quoted in A Dictionary of Thoughts: Being a Cyclopedia of Laconic Quotations from the Best Authors, Both Ancient and Modern (1891) edited by Tryon Edwards . -
“Chapter XI. [ 1 ] [ 2 ]”
The laws of Rome had wisely divided public power among a large number of magistracies, which supported, checked and tempered each other. Since they all had only limited power, every citizen was qualified for them, and the people — seeing many persons pass before them one after the other — did not grow accustomed to any in particular. But in these times the system of the republic changed. Through t -
“Not to be loved is a misfortune, but it is an insult to be loved no longer.”
No. 3. (Zachi writing to Usbek) -
“No. 3. (Zachi writing to Usbek)”
Not to be loved is a misfortune, but it is an insult to be loved no longer. -
“You have to study a great deal to know a little.”
Pensées et Fragments Inédits de Montesquieu(1899) | I
Montesquieu on Life
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“Commonly paraphrased as "An author is a fool who, not content with having bored those who have lived with him, insists on boring future generations".”
Lettres Persanes(Persian Letters, 1721) -
“Life was given to me as a favor, so I may abandon it when it is one no longer.”
Lettres Persanes(Persian Letters, 1721) | No. 76. (Usbek writing to Ibben)
Montesquieu on Mind
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“History is full of religious wars; but, we must take care to observe, it was not the multiplicity of religions that produced these wars, it was the intolerating spirit which animated that one which thought she had the power of governing.”
Lettres Persanes(Persian Letters, 1721) | No. 65. (Usbek writing to his wives)
Montesquieu on Politics
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“Useless laws weaken the necessary laws.”
Book XXIX: Of the Manner of Composing Laws, Chapter 16: Things to be Observed in the Composing of Laws -
Attributed to Montesquieu:
“There is no nation so powerful as the one that obeys its laws.”
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Attributed to Montesquieu:
“The deterioration of every government begins with the decay of the principles on which it was founded.”
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Attributed to Montesquieu:
“Mankind has been corrupted, and an admirable lesson is given by the law that obliges the rulers themselves to obey it.”
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“The laws of Rome had wisely divided public power among a large number of magistracies, which supported, checked and tempered each other. Since they all had only limited power, every citizen was qualified for them, and the people — seeing many persons pass before them one after the other — did not grow accustomed to any in particular. But in these times the system of the republic changed. Through the people the most powerful men gave themselves extraordinary commissions — which destroyed the authority of the people and magistrates, and placed all great matters in the hands of one man, or a few.”
Chapter XI. [ 1 ] [ 2 ]
Montesquieu on Virtue
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“Horace et Aristote nous ont déjà parlé des vertus de leurs pères, et des vices de leur temps, et les auteurs de siècle en siècle nous en ont parlé de même. S'ils avaient dit vrai, les hommes seraient à présent des ours.”
Pensées Diverses | Translation: Horace and Aristotle told us of the virtues of their fathers, and the vices of their own time, and authors down through the centuries have told us the same. If they were right, men would