A biography for Montesquieuhasn’t been written yet.
“Talent is a gift which God has given us secretly, and which we reveal without perceiving it.”
“Although born in a prosperous realm, we did not believe that its boundaries should limit our knowledge, and that the lore of the East should alone enlighten us.”
“The object of war is victory; that of victory is conquest; and that of conquest preservation.”
“Laws undertake to punish only overt acts.”
“Do you think that God will punish them for not practicing a religion which he did not reveal to them?”
“We receive three educations, one from our parents, one from our school masters, and one from the world. The third contradicts all that the first two teach us.”
“Countries are well cultivated, not as they are fertile, but as they are free.”
“The law of nations is naturally founded on this principle, that different nations ought in time of peace to do one another all the good they can, and in time of war as little injury as possible, without prejudicing their real interests.”
“But constant experience shows us that every man invested with power is apt to abuse it, and to carry his authority as far as it will go.”
“Friendship is an arrangement by which we undertake to exchange small favors for big ones.”
“Raillery is a mode of speaking in favor of one's wit at the expense of one's better nature.”
“Men should be bewailed at their birth, and not at their death.”
“I can assure you that no kingdom has ever had as many civil wars as the kingdom of Christ.”
“We should weep for men at their birth, not at their death.”
“If triangles had a god, they would give him three sides.”
“The desire for glory is no different from that instinct for preservation that is common to all creatures. It is as if we enhance our being if we can gain a place in the memory of others; it is a new life that we acquire, which becomes as precious to us as the one we received from Heaven.”
“The severity of the laws prevents their execution.”
“In republican governments, men are all equal; equal they are also in despotic governments: in the former, because they are everything; in the latter, because they are nothing.”
“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.”
“I have never known any distress that an hour's reading did not relieve.”