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

Law in general is human reason, inasmuch as it governs all the inhabitants of the earth: the political and civil laws of each nation ought to be only the particular cases in which human reason is applied.

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.

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

In the infancy of societies, the chiefs of state shape its institutions; later the institutions shape the chiefs of state.

Love of the republic in a democracy, is a love of the democracy; love of the democracy is that of equality. Love of the democracy is likewise that of frugality.

When we seek after wit, we discover only foolishness.