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

Talent is a gift which God has given us secretly, and which we reveal without perceiving it.
Charles de Montesquieu

The less men think, the more they talk.
Charles de Montesquieu

The reason the Romans built their great paved highways was because they had such inconvenient footwear.
Charles de Montesquieu

The severity of the laws prevents their execution.
Charles de Montesquieu

The spirit of moderation should also be the spirit of the lawgiver.
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

The tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy.
Charles de Montesquieu

There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice.
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

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.
Charles de Montesquieu

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

To love to read is to exchange hours of ennui for hours of delight.
Charles de Montesquieu

Useless laws weaken the necessary laws.
Charles de Montesquieu

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

What orators lack in depth they make up for in length.
Charles de Montesquieu