I have never known any distress that an hour's reading did not relieve.
Baron De MontesquieuRead
Liberty is the right to do what the law permits.
Interpretation
Liberty involves acting within the bounds of the law.
Baron De Montesquieu's quote emphasizes that true freedom is not the absence of restrictions but rather the ability to act freely within the limits set by law. This perspective suggests that liberty is best understood in the context of societal rules and governance, as it ensures order and protects individual rights while allowing for personal expression and action.
In practice
In a speech about civic duties, one might mention this quote to highlight the importance of adhering to laws while enjoying personal freedoms.
I have never known any distress that an hour's reading did not relieve.
Law in general is human reason, inasmuch as it governs all the inhabitants of the earth: the political and civil laws of each nation ought to be only the particular cases in which human reason is applied.
To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them.
Love of the republic in a democracy, is a love of the democracy; love of the democracy is that of equality. Love of the democracy is likewise that of frugality.
It is not the young people that degenerate; they are not spoiled till those of mature age are already sunk into corruption.
If you would be holy, instruct your children, because all the good acts they perform will be imputed to you.
Daily the Negro is coming more and more to look upon law and justice, not as protecting safeguards, but as sources of humiliation and oppression. The laws are made by men who have little interest in him; they are executed by men who have absolutely no motive for treating the black people with courtesy or consideration; and, finally, the accused law-breaker is tried, not by his peers, but too often by men who would rather punish ten innocent Negroes than let one guilty one escape.
I think that my darkest moment was the Iraq war and the fact that we could not stop it.
It is really not so repulsive to see the poor asking for money as to see the rich asking for more money. And advertisement is the rich asking for more money.
Most of the Catholics Christians I've met would for all practical purposes believe Jesus is God only, and we are human only. We missed the big point. The point is the integration, both in Jesus and ourselves.
If most of us are ashamed of shabby clothes and shoddy furniture let us be more ashamed of shabby ideas and shoddy philosophies.
An awareness of death encourages us to live more intensely.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.