Charles de Secondat
Charles de Secondat
Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu, generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French lawyer, man of letters, and political philosopher who lived during the Age of Enlightenment. He is famous for his articulation of the theory of separation of powers, which is implemented in many constitutions throughout the world. He is also known for doing more than any other author to secure the place of the word despotism in the political lexicon...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth18 January 1689
CountryFrance
Weak minds exaggerate too much the wrong done to the Africans.
Men, who are rogues individually, are in the mass very honorable people.
Not to be loved is a misfortune, but it is an insult to be loved no longer.
I have always observed that to succeed in the world one should appear like a fool but be wise.
I have read descriptions of Paradise that would make any sensible person stop wanting to go there.
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.
Liberty is the right of doing whatever the laws permit.
You have to study a great deal to know a little.
Power ought to serve as a check to power.
In bodies moved, the motion is received, increased, diminished, or lost, according to the relations of the quantity of matter and velocity; each diversity is uniformity, each change is constancy.
The deterioration of a government begins almost always by the decay of its principles.
The object of war is victory; that of victory is conquest; and that of conquest preservation.
There are three species of government: republican, monarchical, and despotic.
Society is the union of men and not the men themselves.