“I can assure you that no kingdom has ever had as many civil wars as the kingdom of Christ.”

“...when the laws have ceased to be executed, as this can only come from the corruption of the republic, the state is already lost.”

“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.”

“I have never known any distress that an hour’s reading did not relieve.”

“Aimer lire, c'est faire un échange des heures d'ennui contre des heures délicieuses.”

“- « 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,”

“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”