“The spirit of moderation should also be the spirit of the lawgiver.”
What this quote means
Montesquieu, thinker of the separation of powers, asserts that moderation is an essential virtue for the lawgiver. A law that is excessive, too rigid or too permissive, risks becoming tyrannical or ineffective. The good lawgiver must seek balance, weigh interests, avoid extremes. This spirit of moderation also applies to each of us in our decisions: it is the wisdom of the golden mean.
How to apply it daily
In an important decision, assess if your position is extreme. Seek a middle ground that takes into account different perspectives.
Continue
Related quotes
Same author or same theme — keep reading.
“Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”Create visual
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”Create visual
“The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.”Create visual
“War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children.”Create visual
“The end may justify the means as long as there is something that justifies the end.”Create visual
“Insurrection is an art, and like all arts, it has its laws.”Create visual
More quotes by Montesquieu
“There is no greater tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of the law and in the name of justice.”Create visual
“In the state of nature, all men are born equal, but they cannot continue in this equality. Society makes them lose it, and they recover it only by the protection of the laws.”Create visual