One must give one power a ballast, so to speak, to put it in a position to resist another.
Use itGS2: separation of powers — power must check power.
Quotes / Thinkers / Montesquieu
Thinker · 8 quotes
Montesquieu quotes for UPSC
8 sourced quotes by Montesquieu on governance & administration, democracy & freedom, education & knowledge, peace, non-violence & conflict, religion, tolerance & secularism, with a use case for each in GS4, Essay and interviews.
✓ Attributions checked against Wikiquote's sourced list
In a free nation, it matters not whether individuals reason well or ill; it is sufficient that they do reason. Truth arises from the collision and from hence springs liberty, which is a security from the effects of reasoning.
— MontesquieuQuoted by Thomas Erskine in the trial of Thomas Paine, 1792
Use itGS2: free debate generates truth; clash of opinions safeguards liberty.
You have to study a great deal to know a little.
— MontesquieuPensées et Fragments Inédits de Montesquieu (1899)
Use itInterview: humility in learning — much study, little knowledge.
There are only two cases in which war is just: first, in order to resist the aggression of an enemy, and second, in order to help an ally who has been attacked.
— MontesquieuNo. 95. (Usbek writing to Rhedi)
Use itGS2/Essay: just war theory — only self-defence and defence of allies justify war.
History is full of religious wars; but, we must take care to observe, it was not the multiplicity of religions that produced these wars, it was the intolerating spirit which animated that one which thought she had the power of governing.
— MontesquieuNo. 65. (Usbek writing to his wives)
Use itEssay on secularism: intolerance, not religious diversity, causes religious wars.
Translation: The success of most things depends upon knowing how long it will take to succeed.
Use itLife: success depends on knowing how long it will take; patience.
If one only wished to be Sad, this could be horrible for the rest of civilisation; but we wish to be happier than other people, and this is always difficult, for we believe others to be happier than they are.
— MontesquieuAs quoted in A Dictionary of Thoughts: Being a Cyclopedia of Laconic Quotations from the Best Authors, Both Ancient and Modern (1891) edited
Use itEssay on happiness: comparison makes us unhappy; others seem happier than they are.
There is only one thing that can form a bond between men, and that is gratitude...we cannot give someone else greater power over us than we have ourselves.
— MontesquieuNo. 104. (Usbek writing to Ibben)
Use itLife/GS4: gratitude as the bond between people.