17 Quotes By Charles de Montesquieu


It is not the young people that degenerate they are not spoiled till those of mature age are already sunk into corruption.
Charles de Montesquieu on age

Men should be bewailed at their birth, and not at their death.
Charles de Montesquieu on death

We should weep for men at their birth, not at their death.
Charles de Montesquieu on death

I have never known any distress that an hour's reading did not relieve.
Charles de Montesquieu on fear

There is no nation so powerful, as the one that obeys its laws not from principals of fear or reason, but from passion.
Charles de Montesquieu on fear

Friendship is an arrangement by which we undertake to exchange small favors for big ones.
Charles de Montesquieu on friendship

An author is a fool who, not content with boring those he lives with, insists on boring future generations.
Charles de Montesquieu on future

To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them.
Charles de Montesquieu on great

False happiness renders men stern and proud, and that happiness is never communicated. True happiness renders them kind and sensible, and that happiness is always shared.
Charles de Montesquieu on happiness

The less men think, the more they talk.
Charles de Montesquieu on men

We should weep for men at their birth, not at their death.
Charles de Montesquieu on men

False happiness renders men stern and proud, and that happiness is never communicated. True happiness renders them kind and sensible, and that happiness is always shared.
Charles de Montesquieu on men

Peace is a natural effect of trade.
Charles de Montesquieu on peace

The sublimity of administration consists in knowing the proper degree of power that should be exerted on different occasions.
Charles de Montesquieu on power

In most things success depends on knowing how long it takes to succeed.
Charles de Montesquieu on success

Success in the majority of circumstances depends on knowing how long it takes to succeed.
Charles de Montesquieu on success

An empire founded by war has to maintain itself by war.
Charles de Montesquieu on war