The alms given to a naked man in the street do not fulfil the obligations of the state, which owes to every citizen a certain subsistence, a proper nourishment, convenient clothing, and a kind of life not incompatible with health.

When a government lasts a long while, it deteriorates by insensible degrees. Republics end through luxury, monarchies through poverty.

Countries are not cultivated in proportion to their fertility, but to their liberty.

Politics are a smooth file, which cuts gradually, and attains its end by slow progression.

I like peasants-they are not sophisticated enough to reason speciously.

An injustice to one is a threat made to all

I shall ever repeat it, that mankind are governed not by extremes, but by principals of moderation.