50 Montesquieu Quotes That Helped Shape the U.S. Constitution

These Montesquieu quotes about his political philosophy will show you why he was such an influential source when the founding fathers were writing the U.S. Constitution.

Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu — most commonly known simply as Montesquieu, was a French lawyer, judge, and political philosopher.

He became famous for his work, Parisian Lettres, a satirical novel that commented and critiqued the culture and government of Paris in the 18th century.

Montesquieu’s later work, The Spirit of the Laws, argued for the classification of governments into republics, monarchies, or despotisms, and described the theory of separation of powers.

His political theories were created by combining the governments of ancient Greece and Italy as well as the British constitutional system.

His work would go on to influence the forming of many governments, including the United States of America.

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Famous Baron de Montesquieu quotes on his political philosophy

1. “Peace is a natural effect of trade.” — Montesquieu

2. “The love of democracy is that of equality.” — Montesquieu

3. “Despotism is a plan alone, without law and without rule, leads all its will and caprices.” — Montesquieu

4. “The monarchy is the system where a single person governs by fixed and established laws.” — Montesquieu

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5. “The republic is the regime where the people as a body, or only some of the people, the sovereign power.” — Montesquieu

6. “It is not the young people that degenerate; they are not spoiled till those of mature age are already sunk into corruption.” — Montesquieu

7. “Given the need for virtue in a republic and the monarchy of honor, he takes the fear in a despotic government; virtue there is no need and honor it would be dangerous.” — Montesquieu

8. “Political liberty in a citizen is that peace of mind that comes from the opinion each person has of his safety, and to have this liberty, the government must be such that a citizen can not afraid of another.” — Montesquieu

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Charles de Montesquieu quotes about the separation of powers

9. “A thing is not just because it is law. But it must be law because it is just.” — Montesquieu

10. “Countries are well cultivated, not as they are fertile, but as they are free.” — Montesquieu

11. “For we can not abuse power, must, by the arrangement of things, power checks power.” — Montesquieu

12. “In any judicial, must compensate the greatness of the power by the brevity of its duration.” — Montesquieu

13. “If in the interior of a state you do not hear the noise of any conflict, you can be sure that freedom is not there.” — Montesquieu

14. “There is as yet no liberty if the power of judging be not separated from legislative power and the executive power.” — Montesquieu

15. “In the infancy of societies, the chiefs of state shape its institutions; later the institutions shape the chiefs of state.” — Montesquieu

16. “The sublimity of administration consists in knowing the proper degree of power that should be exerted on different occasions.” — Montesquieu

17. “The reason why most governments are despotic Earth is that it just happens. But for moderate governments must combine moderate powers; know what gives one what remains to another and finally, we need a system that is to say a convention of many and a discussion of interest.” — Montesquieu

Montesquieu quotes about laws and morality

18. “The merit of any console.” — Montesquieu

19. “An injustice to one is a threat made to all.” — Montesquieu

20. “Laws undertake to punish only overt acts.” — Montesquieu

21. “Useless laws weaken the necessary laws.” — Montesquieu

22. “People have the government they deserve.” — Montesquieu

23. “The severity of the laws prevents their execution.” — Montesquieu

24. “Freedom is the right to do whatever the laws permit.” — Montesquieu

25. “The spirit of moderation should also be the spirit of the lawgiver.” — Montesquieu

26. “The government is like all things in the world to preserve it must be love.” — Montesquieu

27. “It is competition that puts a fair price for goods and establishes the true relations between them.” — Montesquieu

28. “More states have perished because they had violated the morals because they violated the laws.” — Montesquieu

29. “The morals and manners are usages that laws have not established or were unable or unwilling to establish.” — Montesquieu

30. “There is no nation so powerful, as the one that obeys its laws not from principals of fear or reason, but from passion.” — Montesquieu

31. “Slavery is not useful to the master or the slave to him because he can not do anything by virtue in this, because he gradually becomes accustomed to violate all the moral virtues, he became proud swift, hard, angry, voluptuous, and cruel.” — Montesquieu

Montesquieu quotes about success

32. “In most things, success depends on knowing how long it takes to succeed.” — Montesquieu

33. “I have always observed that to succeed in the world a person must seem simple, yet wise.” — Montesquieu

34. “This is how I define talent; it is a gift that God has given us in secret, which we reveal without knowing it.” — Montesquieu

35. “There is no one, says another, whom fortune does not visit once in his life; but when she does not find him ready to receive her, she walks in at the door, and flies out at the window.” — Montesquieu

Montesquieu quotes about education

36. “The less men think, the more they talk.” — Montesquieu

37. “What orators lack in depth they make up for in length.” — Montesquieu

38. “To love to read is to exchange hours of ennui for hours of delight.” — Montesquieu

39. “I have never known any distress that an hour’s reading did not relieve.” — Montesquieu

40. “An author is a fool who, not content with boring those he lives with, insists on boring future generations.” — Montesquieu

Other famous quotes from Montesquieu

41. “Lunch kills half of Paris, supper the other half.” — Montesquieu

42. “Liberty is the right to do what the law permits.” — Montesquieu

43. “If the triangles made a god, they would give him three sides.” — Montesquieu

44. “To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them.” — Montesquieu

45. “A nation may lose its liberties in a day and not miss them in a century.” — Montesquieu

46. “It is always the adventurers who do great things, not the sovereigns of great empires.” — Montesquieu

47. “Friendship is an arrangement by which we undertake to exchange small favors for big ones.” — Montesquieu

48. “There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice.” — Montesquieu

49. “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.” — Montesquieu

50. “If one only wished to be happy, this could be easily accomplished; but we wish to be happier than other people and this is always difficult, for we believe others to be happier than they are.” — Montesquieu

What did you learn from these Montesquieu quotes?

Montesquieu realized that government corruption was not only possible but also probable if the government was not checked with a balance of power.

He came up with the belief that governments should have a system of checks and balances by being broken into three sections: executive, legislative, and judicial.

He became one of the most influential political thinkers of the Enlightenment in the 18th century.

Much of Montesquieu’s philosophy has been applied to the government of the United States of America, as well as to many constitutions of republics around the world.

We hope you enjoyed these Montesquieu quotes and sayings.

Let us know which quote was your favorite in the comment section below.