Virtue is the health of the soul.

Of what delights are we deprived by our excesses!

The ordinary true, or purely real, cannot be the object of the arts. Illusion on a ground of truth,--that is the secret of the fine arts.

It may be said that it is with our thoughts as with our flowers. Those whose expression is simple carry their seed with them; those that are double by their richness and pomp charm the mind, but produce nothing.

Men must be either the slaves of duty, or the slaves of force.

The lively phraseology of Montesquieu was the result of long meditation. His words, as light as wings, bear on them grave reflections.

You will find poetry nowhere unless you bring some of it with you.