Montesquieu
Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu, generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French social commentator and political thinker who lived during the Enlightenment. He is famous for his articulation of the theory of separation of powers, which is taken for granted in modern discussions of government and implemented in many constitutions throughout the world. He was largely responsible for the popularization of the terms "feudalism" and "Byzantine Empire."
“Самата природа мъдро се погрижва хорските глупости да бъдат преходни, а книгите ги правят безсмъртни.”
Montesquieu
“Les hommes extrêmement heureux, et les hommes extrêmement malheureux a , sont également portés à la dureté ; témoin les moines et les conquérants. Il n’y a que la médiocrité et le mé- lange de la bonne et de la mauvaise fortune, qui donnent de la douceur et de la pitié." The Spirit of the Laws, Bk VI, Ch IX”
Montesquieu
“- « Les lois y [dans une monarchie] tiennent la place de toutes ces vertus, dont on n’a aucun besoin ; l’État vous en dispense: une action qui se fait sans bruit, y est en quelque façon sans conséquence. » Montesquieu, De l’Esprit des Lois, 1748, Book 2, Ch. 5,”
Montesquieu
“They who love to inform themselves, are never idle. Though I have no business of consequence to take care of, I am nevertheless continually employed. I spend my life in examining things: I write down in the evening whatever I have remarked, what I have seen, and what I have heard in the day: every thing engages my attention, and every thing excites my wonder: I am like an infant, whose organs, as yet tender, are strongly affected by the slightest objects.”
Montesquieu
“The Tyranny of a prince in an oligarchyis not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy.”
Montesquieu
“Aimer lire, c'est faire un échange des heures d'ennui contre des heures délicieuses.”
Montesquieu
“If one only wished to be happy, this could be easily accomplished; 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
“La liberté est le droit de faire ce que les lois permettent.”
Montesquieu
“C est le tyran qui m outrage, et non pas celui qui exerce la tyrannie”
Montesquieu
“...when the laws have ceased to be executed, as this can only come from the corruption of the republic, the state is already lost.”
Montesquieu
“An author is a fool who, not content with boring those he lives with, insists on boring future generations.”
Montesquieu
“I can assure you that no kingdom has ever had as many civil wars as the kingdom of Christ.”
Montesquieu
“il faut vivre avec les hommes tels qu ils sont : les gens qu on dit etre de si bonne compagnie ne sont souvent que ceux dont les vices sont plus raffines ; et peut-etre en est-il comme des poisons, dont les plus subtils sont aussi les plus dangereux.”
Montesquieu
“One more organ or one less in our body would give us a different intelligence. In fact, all the established laws as to why our body is a certain way would be different if our body were not that way.”
Montesquieu
“I have never known any distress that an hour’s reading did not relieve.”
Montesquieu