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.

In every government there are three sorts of power: the legislative; the executive in respect to things dependent on the law of nations; and the executive in regard to matters that depend on the civil law.

Raillery is a mode of speaking in favor of one's wit at the expense of one's better nature.

Vanity is as advantageous to a government as pride is dangerous. To be convinced of this we need only represent, on the one hand,the numberless benefits which result from vanity, as industry, the arts, fashions, politeness, and taste; and on the other, the infinite evils which spring from the pride of certain nations, a laziness, poverty, a total neglect of everything.

The public business must be carried on with a certain motion, neither too quick nor too slow.

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