PicoBlog

I spent yesterday reading a lesser known work by Montesquieu, Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and Their Decline (1734: Considérations sur les causes de la grandeur des Romains et de leur décadence), for a podcast we recorded for The New Thinkery. I was struck by how quotable were Montesquieu’s reflections on the nature of political things and human things in general. I decided to compile some of these reflections for a post. Some I’ve included because they reminded me of our circumstances, some because they struck me as exceedingly Machiavellian. They are all, of course, extremely thought-provoking.

Numbers in parentheses refer to the pages of the translation by David Lowenthal. We actually recorded a podcast with David and released it less than a month before his passing on April 28th of this year. It’s been one of our most well-received episodes.

Our episode on the Montesquieu, recorded last night, should be out shortly. Michael Anton, who has published one of the few pieces on this work, joined us. We a had a great conversation.

Lastly, please do forward this to anyone who might be interested.

“At the birth of societies, the leaders of republics create the institutions; thereafter, it is the institutions that form the leaders of republics.” (25)

“In transient wars, most of the examples of conduct are lost; peace brings other ideas, and one’s faults and even one’s virtues are forgotten.” (28)

“There is greater danger in the laws being evaded in a free state than in their being violated by a prince, for a prince is always the foremost citizen of his state, and has more interest in preserving it than anyone else.” (44)

“In states governed by a prince, dissensions are easily pacified because he has in his hands a coercive power that brings the two parties together.  But in a republic they are more durable, because the evil usually attacks the very power that could cure it.” (45)

“Gold and silver are exhausted, but virtue, constancy, strength and poverty never are.” (45)

“There is nothing so powerful as a republic in which the laws are observed not through fear, not through reason, but through passion.” (47)

“Commercial republics can continue in a state of mediocrity a long time, but their greatness is of short duration.” (47)

“The consternation of a warlike people, which almost always turns into courage, is different from that of a vile populace, which senses only its weakness.” (51)

“Conquests are easy to make, because they are made with all one’s forces; they are difficult to preserve because they are defended with only a part of one’s forces.” (52)

“A crown can be strengthened by courage but never by infamy.” (62)

“It is the folly of conquerors to want to give their laws and customs to all peoples.  This serves no purpose, for people are capable of obeying in any form of government.” (75)

“More states have perished by the violation of their moral customs than by the violation of their laws.” (86)

“A free government—that is, a government constantly subject to agitation—cannot last if it is not capable of being corrected by its own laws.” (88)

“A wise republic should hazard nothing that exposes it to either good or bad fortune.  The only good to which it should aspire is the perpetuation of its condition.” (92)

“To ask for men in a free state who are bold in war and timid in peace is to wish the impossible.  And, as a general rule, whenever we see everyone tranquil in a state that calls itself a republic, we can be sure that liberty does not exist there.” (93)

“There is a considerable difference between good laws and expedient laws—between those that enable a people to make itself master of others, and those that maintain its power once it is acquired.” (94)

“During civil wars great men are often produced, because in the confusion those with merit come to the fore.  Each man finds his own place and rank, whereas at other times each is given his place, and almost always wrongly.” (107)

“Man—a being whose greed for power keeps increasing the more he has of it, and who desire all only because he already possesses much.” (107–8)

“Men are never more offended than when their ceremonies and practices are flouted.  Seeking to oppress them is sometimes a proof of the esteem one has for them; flouting their customs is always a mark of contempt.” (109)

“Self-love, the love of our own preservation, is transformed in so many ways, and acts by such contrary principles, that it leads us to sacrifice our being for the love of our being.” (117)

“Cover a man with benefits and the first idea you inspire in him is to seek the means of preserving them; they are so many new interests you give him to defend.” (120)

“Although men are extremely queer, it very rarely happens that they renounce in a moment what they have sought throughout their life.” (123)

“No tyranny is more cruel than the one practiced 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.” (130)

“The whole body of the people does not pretend, flatter or dissimulate.” (133)

“No people fear unhappiness so much as those who ought to be reassured by the wretchedness of their condition…They are foolish enough to fear becoming unhappy.” (133)

“The same turn of mind causing a man to be strongly impressed by the unlimited power of the person in command, causes him to be no less impressed when he is in command himself.” (135)

“No authority is more absolute than that of a prince who succeeds a republic, for he finds himself with all the power of the people, who had not been able to impose limitations on themselves.” (138)

“The treasures amassed by princes almost never have anything but grievous effects.  They corrupt the prince’s successor, who is dazzled by them; and if they do not corrupt his heart, they corrupt his mind.  He immediately plans great enterprises with a power that is accidental, that cannot endure, that is not natural, and that is inflated rather than enlarged.” (149)

“The prevalence of luxury—while not itself a misfortune—becomes one if it occurs under conditions which, by the nature of things, call for having only physical necessities.” (150)

“When a government’s form has been established a long time and things are arranged in a certain way, it is almost always prudent to leave them alone, because the reasons for such a state having endured are often complicated and unknown, and they will cause it to maintain itself further.  But when one changes the whole system, one can only remedy those difficulties that are known by theory, and one overlooks others that can only be brought to light by practice.” (160)

“Peace cannot be bought, because the seller is then in a better position to compel it to be bought again.  It is preferable to run the risk of waging an unsuccessful war than to give money to assure peace.  For a prince is always respected if it is known that it would take a long struggle to conquer him.” (167)

“It is not chance that rules the world.…There are general causes, moral and physical, which act in every monarchy, elevating it, maintaining it, or hurling it to the ground.  All accidents are controlled by these causes.  And if the chance of one battle—that is, one particular cause—has brought a state to ruin, some general cause made it necessary for that state to perish from a single battle.  In a word, the main trend draws with it all particular accidents.” (169)

“No states are in greater need of taxes than those which are growing weaker, so that burdens must be increased in proportion as the ability to pay decreases.” (171)

“The dissensions that are always necessary for maintaining republic government must be fatal to imperial rule, their only effect being a change of sovereign rather than the reestablishment of laws and the cessation of abuses.” (189)

“Diseases of the mind are scarcely ever cured.” (198)

“Great enterprises cannot be accomplished without money, and merchants have been in control of money since the invention of letters of exchange.  For this reason, the affairs of merchants are frequently bound up with the secret of states, and these men neglect nothing to discover them.” (199)

“In ordinary disputes each person knows he can be wrong and hence is not extremely opinionated or obstinate.  But in our disputes over religion, by the nature of the thing, each person is sure his opinion is true, and we are indignant with those who obstinately insist on making us change instead of changing themselves.” (208)

“It is an error to believe that any human authority exists in the world which is despotic in all respects.  There never has been one, and never will be, for the most immense power is always confined in some way.…There exists in each nation a general spirit on which power itself is based, and when it shocks this spirit, it strikes against itself and necessarily comes to a standstill.” (210)

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