When virtue is banished, ambition invades the hearts of those who are disposed to receive it, and avarice possesses the whole community.
[Lorsque cette vertu cesse, l’ambition entre dans les cœurs qui peuvent la recevoir, & l’avarice entre dans tous.]
Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
Spirit of Laws [The Spirit of the Laws; De l’esprit des lois], Book 3, ch. 3 (3.3) (1748) [tr. Nugent (1750)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/montesquieu/82760/
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Montesquieu - Spirit of Laws [The Spirit of the Laws; De l’esprit des lois], Book 3, ch. 3 (3.3) (1748) [tr. Nugent (1750)] | WIST Quotations
When virtue is banished, ambition invades the hearts of those who are disposed to receive it, and avarice possesses the whole community. [Lorsque cette vertu cesse, l’ambition entre dans les cœurs qui peuvent la recevoir, & l’avarice entre dans tous.WIST Quotations
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