"There are two sorts of tyranny: one real, which consists in the violence of the government; and the other of opinion, which is felt when those who govern establish things that clash with the notions o…"

"In a true democracy, the people are sovereign, and the magistrates are only its ministers."

"The history of almost all nations shows that if they have lost their liberty, it has been by the fault of the people, not the prince."

"I have never known any distress that an hour's reading did not assuage."

"The state of monarchy is the best of all states, provided that it is a moderate one."