In republican governments, men are all equal; equal they are also in despotic governments: in the former, because they are everything; in the latter, because they are nothing.
Baron de MontesquieuWhen virtue is banished, ambition invades the minds of those who are disposed to receive it and avarice possesses the whole community.
Baron de MontesquieuThey who love to inform themselves, are never idle. Though I have no business of consequence to take care of, I am nevertheless continually employed. I spend my life in examining things: I write down in the evening whatever I have remarked, what I have seen, and what I have heard in the day: every thing engages my attention, and every thing excites my wonder: I am like an infant, whose organs, as yet tender, are strongly affected by the slightest objects.
Baron de MontesquieuVirtue in a republic is the love of one's country, that is the love of equality.
Baron de Montesquieu