Montesquieu

The greatest part of mankind are more capable of a long and tedious application, than of an intense and vigorous exertion.

The state of monarchy is not like that of a despotism. In a monarchy, the prince is master of his subjects, but not of his laws.

It is not the people who are naturally corrupted, but the magistrates.

The less we are able to reflect, the more we are capable of passion.

All religions contain precepts useful to society.

The principle of democracy is corrupted not only when the spirit of equality is lost, but likewise when they fall into a spirit of extreme equality, and when every citizen wants to be equal to those whom he has chosen to command him.

To form a moderate government, it is necessary to combine the powers, to regulate them, to temper them, to set them in motion; to give, so to speak, a ballast to one, in order to enable it to resist another.

The love of our country is a love of ourselves.

When the legislative power is more corrupt than the executive, the danger is that laws will be made that are too arbitrary.

The greatest crimes are those which are prejudicial to the public.

As for the law of nations, it is founded on this principle, that the various nations ought to do each other in times of peace the most good possible, and in times of war the least evil possible, without prejudicing their true interests.

The natural effect of commerce is to lead to peace. Two nations who traffic with each other become reciprocally dependent; for if one has an interest in buying, the other has an interest in selling; and thus their union is founded on their mutual necessities.

The history of commerce is that of the communication of people.

When the body of the people in a republic possess the supreme power, this is called a democracy.

It is an error to believe that a state, however small, can be governed by virtue alone. It must be aided by force.

Liberty is the right of doing whatever the laws permit.

Luxury is useful in a monarchy, and pernicious in a republic.

The custom of the most civilized countries is to use the strongest and most active for the public service, and to put the weak and idle in the houses of correction.

The Romans were the greatest people in the world when they had not yet corrupted themselves.

It is not the business of government to make us virtuous, but to make us secure.