"The principle of democracy is corrupted not only when the spirit of equality is extinct, but likewise when they fall into a spirit of extreme equality, and when every citizen wants to be equal to thos…"

"The legislator should follow the spirit of the nation."

"The people are extremely fickle, and if they are not governed by strict laws, they will soon fall into anarchy."

"Trade is a cure for the most destructive prejudices; for it is almost a general rule, that wherever we find agreeable manners, there commerce flourishes; and wherever there is commerce, there we meet …"

"It is not the young people that degenerate; they are only open to the impressions of others; it is the old people that are corrupt, and have corrupted them."