The wickedness of mankind makes it necessary for the law to suppose them better than they really are.

In a republic there is no coercive force as in other governments, the laws must therefore endeavor to supply this defect.

The deterioration of every government begins with the decay of the principles on which it was founded.

Republics come to an end by luxurious habits; monarchies by poverty.

This punishment of death is the remedy, as it were, of a sick society.

Christianity stamped its character on jurisprudence; for empire has ever a connection with the priesthood.

Men in excess of happiness or misery are equally inclined to severity. Witness conquerors and monks! It is mediocrity alone, and a mixture of prosperous and adverse fortune that inspire us with lenity and pity.