“If I knew of something that could serve my nation but would ruin another, I would not propose it to my prince, for I am first a man and only then a Frenchman, because I am necessarily a man, and only accidentally am I French.”

— Montesquieu

Si je savais une chose utile à ma nation qui fût ruineuse à une autre, je ne la proposerais pas à mon prince, parce que je suis homme avant d’être Français, parce que je suis nécessairement homme, et que je ne suis Français que par hasard
I.
Pensées et Fragments Inédits de Montesquieu (1899)

Original

Pensées et Fragments Inédits de Montesquieu (1899)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Sept. 14, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "If I knew of something that could serve my nation but would ruin another, I would not propose it to my prince, for I am…" by Montesquieu?

Montesquieu 34

French social commentator and political thinker 1689–1755

Related quotes

“I am a man of causes; I am not an individualist, and in my heart and conscience I do not think I could serve society as I would like to with this level of support.”

Bernard Landry (1937–2018) Canadian politician

In Radio-Canada, ""Biographies: Bernard Landry"" http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/dossiers/tetes/landry/,retrieved August 28, 2005
quote from Landry's resignation speech, made after winning a party confidence vote by only 76.2%.

“When I am drunk I am at my best. It is the national knack of the French.”

Orson Scott Card (1951) American science fiction novelist

Source: The Tales of Alvin Maker, Heartfire (1998), Chapter 6.

“Forgive my indecision. I am only a man.”

Brandon Boyd (1976) American rock singer, writer and visual artist

Lyrics, Morning View (2001)

“I am against this Treaty not because I am a man of war but because I am a man of peace. I am against this Treaty because it will not end the centuries of conflict between the two nations of Great Britain and Ireland.”

Éamon de Valera (1882–1975) 3rd President of Ireland

(18 December 1921).
I'm Glad You Asked Me That (2007)

“I am more a man than a woman. Only the need to please and compassion turn me into a woman. I am not a man, I am not a woman, I am I.”

Marianne von Werefkin (1860–1938) expressionist painter

written in her Journal, 1905
Quote of Werefkin's Journal, 1905; in Briefe an einen Unbekannten, ed. Clemens Weiler, Cologne: Verlag M. DuMont, 1960, p. 50
1895 - 1905

“I feel that if I am busting my arse, if I am stretching at night, if I am working hard in the gym, if I am doing all of my extras out on the field, if I am the first one there and the last to leave or whatever, and if I am giving my all every game, then I deserve to be the man I want to be rather than the man other people want me to be.”

Sonny Bill Williams (1985) New Zealand rugby player and heavyweight boxer

Williams on the controversial nature of his flitting between football codes. Sonny Bill Williams regrets nothing http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/sonny-bill-williams-regrets-nothing-20131129-2yfvd.html, by Brad Walter, Sydney Morning Herald, dated 29 November 2013.

“If I am law abiding and honour all the laws of a country, I am integrated into society. If I am serving the nation with all my potential and capability, that is integration.”

Mirza Masroor Ahmad (1950) spiritual leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community

Others
Source: Loving country you live in part of Muslim faith, says Ahmadi leader, The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/06/loving-country-you-live-in-part-of-muslim-faith-says-ahmadi-leader,

“When I first moved to LA, no one could understand a thing I said, you would think I was speaking another language. Every time I would order something at Starbucks, they would go, 'Huh? What did you say?' My accent was an issue and my low voice was as well. They thought I should be more girlie. But that's who I am.”

Miley Cyrus (1992) American actor and singer-songwriter

Inquirer.net http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/entertainment/entertainment/view/20081120-173424/Miley-Cyrus-lends-voice-to-animated-film (November 20, 2008)

“I fly from pleasure," said the prince, "because pleasure has ceased to please; I am lonely because I am miserable, and am unwilling to cloud with my presence the happiness of others.”

Samuel Johnson book The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia

Source: The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia (1759), Chapter 3

“More men than I have put men to death, but I am the last man in the world that would take a man's life. Two years ago—even if my own life was at stake—and I am confident, if I thought a man would shoot me—I would give him a chance of keeping his life, and would part with my own; but if I knew that through him innocent persons' lives were at stake, I certainly would have to shoot him if he forced me to do so; but I would want to know that he was really going to take my innocent life.”

Ned Kelly (1855–1880) Australian bushranger

Sentencing (1880)

“If I knew of something that could serve my nation but would ruin another, I would not propose it to my prince, for I am first a man and only then a Frenchman, because I am necessarily a man, and only accidentally am I French.”

Original

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Montesquieu 34

Related quotes

Related topics