So long as mankind shall continue to lavish more praise upon its destroyers than upon its benefactors war shall remain the chief pursuit of ambitious minds.

The frequent repetition of miracles serves to provoke, where it does not subdue, the reason of mankind.

The terror of the Roman arms added weight and dignity to the moderation of the emperors. They preserved the peace by a constant preparation for war.

The principles of a free constitution are irrecoverably lost, when the legislative power is nominated by the executive.

The German huts, open on every side to the eye of indiscretion or jealousy, were a better safeguard of conjugal fidelity than the walls, the bolts, and the eunuchs of a persian harem. To this reason, another may be added of a more honourable nature. The Germans treated their women with esteem and confidence, consulted them on every occasion of importance, and fondly believed that in their breasts resided a sanctity and wisdom more than human.

[Arabs are] a people, whom it is dangerous to provoke, and fruitless to attack.

[The] discretion of the judge is the first engine of tyranny . . .