The Spirit of Laws
A source page for quotes linked to Baron de Montesquieu.
“Life was given to me as a favor, so I may abandon it when it is one no longer.”
“Republics are brought to their ends by luxury; monarchies by poverty.”
“Man, as a physical being, is like other bodies governed by invariable laws.”
“I suffer from the disease of writing books and being ashamed of them when they are finished.”
“I should like to abolish funerals; the time to mourn a person is at his birth, not his death.”
“Republics come to an end by luxurious habits; monarchies by poverty.”
“There is hardly any grief that an hour's reading will not dissipate.”
“It is unreasonable ... to oblige a man not to attempt the defense of his own life.”
“When God endowed human beings with brains, He did not intend to guarantee them.”
“Human laws made to direct the will ought to give precepts, and not counsels.”
“In the matter of dress one should always keep below one's ability.”
“A good writer does not write as people write, but as he writes.”
“Vanity and pride of nations; vanity is as advantageous to a government as pride is dangerous.”