We must have constantly present in our minds the difference between independence and liberty. Liberty is a right of doing whatever the laws permit, and if a citizen could do what they forbid he would no longer be possessed of liberty.

Knowledge humanizes mankind, and reason inclines to mildness; but prejudices eradicate every tender disposition.

Not to be loved is a misfortune, but it is an insult to be loved no longer.

When virtue is banished, ambition invades the minds of those who are disposed to receive it and avarice possesses the whole community.

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

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

It is clear that in a monarchy, where he who commands the exceution of the laws generally thinks himself above them, there is lessneed of virtue than in a popular government, where the person entrusted with the execution of the laws is sensible of his being subject to their direction.