I have never known any distress that an hour's reading did not relieve.
Baron De MontesquieuRead
No tyranny is more cruel than the one practised in the shadow of the laws and under color of justice - when, so to speak, one proceeds to drown the unfortunate on the very plank by which they had saved themselves. And since a tyrant never lacks instruments for his tyranny, Tiberius always found judges ready to condemn as many people as he might suspect.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the dangers of tyranny disguised as justice, emphasizing how laws can be manipulated to oppress others.
Baron De Montesquieu warns against the insidious nature of tyranny that operates under the pretense of justice. He illustrates a grim reality where the law is weaponized to suppress the vulnerable, portraying a scenario where those who are meant to offer protection instead become the architects of oppression. This reflection on the misuse of judicial power underscores the need for vigilance in the face of authority that may exploit the very systems designed to uphold justice.
Themes
TyrannyJusticeLawOppressionMontesquieu
In practice
Example use cases
Encouraging discussions on the limitations of legal systems in a philosophy class.
More from Baron De Montesquieu
All quotes →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.
Baron De MontesquieuRead
To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them.
Baron De MontesquieuRead
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.
Baron De MontesquieuRead
It is not the young people that degenerate; they are not spoiled till those of mature age are already sunk into corruption.
Baron De MontesquieuRead
If you would be holy, instruct your children, because all the good acts they perform will be imputed to you.
Baron De MontesquieuRead
Similar quotes
The merest accident of microgeography had meant that the first man to hear the voice of Om, and who gave Om his view of humans, was a shepherd and not a goatherd. They have quite different ways of looking at the world, and the whole of history might have been different. For sheep are stupid, and have to be driven. But goats are intelligent, and need to be led.
Terry PratchettRead
Sometimes there are no good guys. There are no bad guys. It seems like everybody is in the middle.
Jim MattisRead
She had lived her early years as though she were waiting for something she might, but never did, become.
Marguerite DurasRead
I don't want it to end, and so, as every therapist knows, the ego does not want an end to its “problems” because they are part of its identity. If no one will listen to my sad story, I can tell it to myself in my head, over and over, and feel sorry for myself, and so have an identity as someone who is being treated unfairly by life or other people, fate or God. It gives definition to my self-image, makes me into someone, and that is all that matters to the ego.
Eckhart TolleRead
Think of God; attachments will gradually drop away. If you wait till all desires disappear before starting your devotion and prayer, you will have to wait for a very long time indeed.
Ramana MaharshiRead
Wonders are many, and none is more wonderful than man; the power that crosses the white sea, driven by the stormy wind, making a path under surges that threaten to engulf him.
SophoclesRead