Power should be a check on power.

It is rare to find learned men who are clean, do not stink and have a sense of humour.

What unhappy beings men are! They constantly waver between false hopes and silly fears, and instead of relying on reason they create monsters to frighten themselves with, and phantoms which lead them astray.

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

When the body of the people is possessed of the supreme power, it is called a democracy.

Do you think that God will punish them for not practicing a religion which he did not reveal to them?

Better it is to say that the government most comfortable to nature is that which best agrees with the humor and disposition of the people in whose favor it is established.