# Montesquieu's most famous quotes

From The Spirit of the Laws and its separation of powers to the Persian Letters and his Thoughts: Montesquieu's most quoted lines, with the work and the letter or book they come from.

- 5 votes · 11 items
- Feb 5, 2020 · Clémence Faure
- https://even.best/en/l/4565/montesquieu-s-most-famous-quotes

## Top 11

1. **So that power cannot be abused, things must be arranged so that power checks power.** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — The Spirit of the Laws (1748), Book XI.
2. **Liberty is the right to do whatever the laws permit.** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — The Spirit of the Laws (1748), Book XI.
3. **Love of the republic, in a democracy, is love of democracy; love of democracy is love of equality.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — The Spirit of the Laws (1748), Book V.
4. **It is sometimes necessary to change certain laws. But it is rare, and when it happens they should be touched only with a trembling hand.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Persian Letters (1721), letter 80.
5. **To do great things you need not be so great a genius: you need not be above men; you must be with them.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Persian Letters (1721).
6. **If triangles made a god, they would give him three sides.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Persian Letters (1721), letter 59.
7. **Study has been my sovereign remedy against disgust: I have never had a sorrow that an hour's reading did not take away.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — My Thoughts (posthumous).
8. **The usual effect of colonies is to weaken the countries they are drawn from without populating those they are sent to.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Persian Letters (1721), letter 121.
9. **In a State, more or less cruel punishments do not make people obey the laws any better.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Persian Letters (1721), letter 81.
10. **There are only two kinds of just war: to repel an attacking enemy, and to help an ally under attack.** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — Persian Letters (1721), letter 95.
11. **Justice is a relationship of fitness that really exists between two things.** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — Persian Letters (1721), letter 84.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.