![]() | 12. The same Subject continued. The Spirit of the Laws | ![]() |
5.12. 12. The same Subject continued.
Let us not look for magnanimity in despotic governments; the prince cannot impart a greatness which he has not himself; with him there is no such thing as glory.
It is in monarchies that we behold the subjects encircling the throne, and cheered by the irradiancy of the sovereign; there it is that each person filling, as it were, a larger space, is capable of exercising those virtues which adorn the soul, not with independence, but with true dignity and greatness.
![]() | 12. The same Subject continued. The Spirit of the Laws | ![]() |