Charles de Montesquieu Quotes
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An empire founded by war has to maintain itself by war.
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There should be weeping at a man's birth, not at his death.
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Lunch kills half of Paris, supper the other half.
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If triangles had a god, they would give him three sides.
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It is not the young people that degenerate; they are not spoiled till those of mature age are already sunk into corruption.
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To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them.
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We should weep for men at their birth, not at their death.
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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.
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An author is a fool who, not content with boring those he lives with, insists on boring future generations.
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It is always the adventurers who do great things, not the sovereigns of great empires.
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Men should be bewailed at their birth, and not at their death.
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Friendship is an arrangement by which we undertake to exchange small favors for big ones.
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If the triangles made a god, they would give him three sides.
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Liberty is the right to do what the law permits.
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In most things success depends on knowing how long it takes to succeed.
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Countries are well cultivated, not as they are fertile, but as they are free.
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If we only wanted to be happy, it would be easy; but we want to be happier than other people, and that is almost always difficult, since we think them happier than they are.
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The severity of the laws prevents their execution.
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No kingdom has shed more blood than the kingdom of Christ.
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A nation may lose its liberties in a day and not miss them in a century.
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Luxury ruins republics; poverty, monarchies.
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In the infancy of societies, the chiefs of state shape its institutions; later the institutions shape the chiefs of state.
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There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice.
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Success in the majority of circumstances depends on knowing how long it takes to succeed.