In a republic there is no coercive force as in other governments, the laws must therefore endeavor to supply this defect..

Virtue is necessary to a republic..

In constitutional states, liberty is compensation for heavy taxes; in dictatorships, the subsititue is light taxes..

To love to read is to exchange hours of ennui for hours of delight..

It is unreasonable ... to oblige a man not to attempt the defense of his own life..

There are countries where a man is worth nothing; there are others where he is worth less than nothing..

Useless laws weaken the necessary laws..

When the savages of Louisiana wish to have fruit, they cut the tree at the bottom and gather the fruit. That is exactly a despotic government..

Liberty itself has appeared intolerable to those nations who have not been accustomed to enjoy it..

A fondness for reading changes the inevitable dull hours of our life into exquisite hours of delight..

Countries are not cultivated in proportion to their fertility, but to their liberty..

Solemnity is the shield of idiots.

Not to be loved is a misfortune, but it is an insult to be loved no longer..

No kingdom has shed more blood than the kingdom of Christ..

The life of man is but a succession of vain hopes and groundless fears..

The majority of men are more capable of great actions than of good ones..

When God endowed human beings with brains, He did not intend to guarantee them..

Virtue in a republic is the love of one's country, that is the love of equality..

Countries are well cultivated, not as they are fertile, but as they are free..

The laws do not take upon them to punish any other than overt acts..

If I knew of something that could serve my nation but would ruin another, I would not propose it to my prince, for I am first a man and only then a F….