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.
Montesquieu on Freedom
-
Attributed to Montesquieu:
“Liberty is the right to do what the laws permit.”
-
Attributed to Montesquieu:
“When power is constant, free states will not last.”
Montesquieu on Happiness
-
Attributed to Montesquieu:
“Constant happiness is the sign of a man who has learned to be self-sufficient.”
Montesquieu on Politics
-
Attributed to Montesquieu:
“Useless laws weaken the necessary laws.”
-
Attributed to Montesquieu:
“There is no nation so powerful as the one that obeys its laws.”
-
Attributed to Montesquieu:
“The deterioration of every government begins with the decay of the principles on which it was founded.”
-
Attributed to Montesquieu:
“Mankind has been corrupted, and an admirable lesson is given by the law that obliges the rulers themselves to obey it.”