193 Quotes by Baron de Montesquieu

Every man who has power is impelled to abuse it.

Laws undertake to punish only overt acts.

The severity of the laws prevents their execution.

Honor sets all the parts of the body politic in motion, and by its very action connects them; thus each individual advances the public good, while he only thinks of promoting his own interest.

I acknowledge that history is full of religious wars: but we must distinguish; it is not the multiplicity of religions which has produced wars; it is the intolerant spirit animating that which believed itself in the ascendant.

If I knew something that would serve my country but would harm mankind, I would never reveal it; for I am a citizen of humanity first and by necessity, and a citizen of France second, and only by accident.

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

Nature is just to all mankind, and repays them for their industry. She renders them industrious by annexing rewards in proportion to their labor.

Do you think that God will punish them for not practicing a religion which he did not reveal to them?