夏尔·德·塞孔达，孟德斯鸠（1689年1月18日-1755年2月10日），法国启蒙运动时期思想家、律师，西方国家学说以及法学理论的奠基人，与伏尔泰、卢梭合称“法兰西启蒙运动三剑侠”。 “拜占庭帝国”这个说法的流行，孟德斯鸠出力甚多。
孟德斯鸠是一位百科全书式的学者。 在学术上取得了巨大成就，得到了很高的荣誉。 曾被选为波尔多科学院院士、法国科学院院士、英国皇家学会会员、柏林皇家科学院院士。
1、Man can’t live like a beast. He should seek knowledge and virtue.
人不能像走兽那样活着，应该追求知识和美德。
2、To love reading is to change the time of loneliness and boredom into a moment of great enjoyment.
喜爱读书，就等于把生活中寂寞无聊的时光换成巨大享受的时刻。
3、Reading is the best way for me to dispel the unpleasantness of life. No distress can be dispelled by reading.
读书对于我来说是驱散生活中的不愉快的最好手段。 没有一种苦恼是读书所不能驱散的。
4、I do not do things that are good for my own sake but harmful to my home, and I will not do anything that is good for my country.
有益于身而有害于家的事情，我不干; 有益于家而有害于国的事情，我不干。
5、One must mourn not the death of men but their birth.
人所悲伤的并不是人类的死亡而是他们的诞生。
6、A man who truly loves his country is a true man in all respects.
一个真正热爱祖国的人，在各个方面都是一个真正的人。
7、In a people’s country there must also be a hub of promotion, which is virtue.
在一个人民的国家中还要有一种推动的枢纽，这就是美德。
8、Morality should be noble; when you are alive, you should be frank; behave, be polite.
品德应该高尚些; 处世，应该坦率些; 举止，应该礼貌些。
9、The measuure of a man ‘s real character is what he would do if he know he would never be found out.
要衡量一个人的质量，要看他知道自己永远不被人发现的情况下做些什么。
10、Politeness pleases polite people and pleases those who are treated politely.
礼貌使有礼貌的人喜悦，也使那些受到人家礼貌相待的人们喜悦。
11、It is by no means a new generation that goes bad, but only after the older ones have become corrupt.
变坏的绝不是新生的一代，只有在年长的人已经腐化之后，他们才会败坏下去。
12、To be able to repopulate one’s own life in the memory of others, life seems to lengthen a little; glory is the new life we have acquired, and it can be as precious as the life of genius.
能将自己的生命寄托在他人的记忆中，生命仿佛就加长了一些; 光荣是我们获得的新生命，其可珍贵，实不下于天赋的生命。
13、The person who has authority is easy to abuse power. This is an eternal and immutable experience for ages. Must prevent the abuse of authority, must by the authority restraint authority.
一切有权力的人都容易滥用权力，这是亘古不变的经验。 防止滥用权力的方法，就是以权力约束权力。
14、Since nature causes varying degrees of strength in human beings, they often use the struggle to sink their boats, making the weak no less powerful.
大自然者既然在人间造成不同程度的强弱，也常用破釜沉舟的斗争，使弱者不亚于强者。
15、Real smart people can feel things that others just know.
真正的聪明人能感觉到那些其他人仅仅知道的事物。
16、The law was drawn up to punish the evil and perverse human being, so the law itself must be the purest.
法律的制订是为了惩罚人类的凶恶悖谬，所以法律本身必须最为纯洁无垢。
17、People generally approve of mediocrity. For mediocre people, people are happy to help; for intelligent people, people take away. The latter became the object of death, and he was not forgiven; but for the benefit of the former, people did everything to support him, and he was supported by vanity.
一般人赞许的往往是平庸人。 对于平庸人，人们很乐于济助; 对于有才智的人，人们以有所剥夺为快。 后者成为忌妒的对象，人们对他毫不原谅; 可是为了前者利益，人们不惜一切给以支持，他受人们虚荣心的拥护。
18、I never knew there was any distress that could not be spared by an hour’s reading.
我从未知道过有什么苦恼是不能为一小时的读书所排遣的。
19、A well-intentioned ridicule is a kind of speech that is harmful to people and conducive to wisdom.
善意的嘲笑是一种有害于人之良性，有利于才智的讲话方式。
20、I have seen people who are virtuous and have a natural attitude, which makes people feel that they have virtue, because they do their duty, whether they want to do it, and they act like instinct. They must not dwell on the merits of their rarity, for they seem to know nothing of it.
我见过一些人，德行美好，而态度自然，使人们感觉到他们身怀美德，因为他们恪尽天职，好不勉强，一切表现，如出本能。 他们决不至于长篇大论，指出自己稀世的优点，因为他们自己仿佛根本不知道有这回事。
21、Freedom is not unlimited freedom, freedom is a power to do whatever the law permits.
自由不是无限制的自由，自由是一种能做法律许可的任何事的权力。
22、Luxury always follows debauchery, vice always follows luxury.
奢侈总是跟随着淫乱，淫乱总是跟随着奢侈。
23、If you track wit, you catch stupidity.
如果你追踪机智，结果却会抓住愚蠢。
24、Politics is a blunt instrument, and he slumps and slowly achieves its purpose.
政治是一把磨钝了的挫刀，他挫着挫着，慢慢地达到它的目的。
25、Justice to others is charity for oneself.
对他人的公正就是对自己的施舍。
26、Mediocrity is safest.
平平庸庸最安全。
27、Life is equal, there is no distinction between high and low. We have no right to dictate to others by giving after the day after tomorrow, and we have no reason to feel sorry for the future. Above men, consider others as men; under men, consider themselves human.
人生而平等，根本没有高低贵贱之分。 我们没有权利假借后天的给予对别人颐指气使，也没有理由为后天的际遇而自怨自艾。 在人之上，要视别人为人; 在人之下，要视自己为人。
28、Society is a large group of people as a whole, not isolated individual members.
社会是人群的集合体，而不是孤立的个体成员。
29、Law, where it governs all the peoples of the earth, is human reason.
法律，在它支配着地球上所有人民的场合，就是人类的理性。
30、Man is more like a man in suffering.
人在苦难中才更像一个人。
31、To be able to put their own life in the memory of others, life seems to lengthen some; glory is our new life, its precious, no less than natural life.
能把自己的生命寄托于他人记忆中，生命仿佛就加长一些; 光荣是我们获得的新生命，其珍贵，实不下于天赋的生命。
32、The glory of the privilege of the notables is precisely the disgrace of the civilian population.
显要人物的特权的光荣恰恰就是平民的耻辱。
33、Man is extremely hopeful and afraid. Religion without geography and heaven would not please mankind.
人类极其具有希望感和恐惧感。 没有地域和天堂的宗教就不会取悦于人类。
34、A noble man does not do business; a man who does business is not noble.
高尚之人不经商，经商之人不高尚。
35、In countries where identity is necessarily different, there must be privileges.
在必然有身份差别的国家里，就必然有特权的存在。
36、The despotism of authoritarian political power is less dangerous for the welfare of the people than the indifference of the Democratic People.
独裁政治权势者的专制，对于民众福祉的危险性，比不上民主政治人民的冷漠。