Charles de Montesquieu – 15 Quotes

15 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

Men should be bewailed at their birth, and not at their death.

– Charles de Montesquieu

We should weep for men at their birth, not at their death.

– Charles de Montesquieu

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

– Charles de Montesquieu

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

Friendship is an arrangement by which we undertake to exchange small favors for big ones.

– Charles de Montesquieu

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

– Charles de Montesquieu

To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them.

– Charles de Montesquieu

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

The less men think, the more they talk.

– Charles de Montesquieu

Peace is a natural effect of trade.

– Charles de Montesquieu

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

– Charles de Montesquieu

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

– Charles de Montesquieu

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

– Charles de Montesquieu

An empire founded by war has to maintain itself by war.

– Charles de Montesquieu