Tom is right. Excellent quote. :-)
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While I am neither well read nor extensively educated, one of my hobbies is looking up "Jefferson quotes" to track down the source...seems that I always learn something interesting doing it, whether it turns out to be from Jefferson's writings or someone else's :)
Baron de Montesquieu [1689-1755] was a French judge, man of letters, and political philosopher. It is said that his writings influenced the Founding Fathers in the drafting of the U.S. Constitution, and also that he was often cited by the American founders.
from Montesquieu's The Spirit of Laws, Book VIII, Chapter XII [speaking of the history of Rome]
"When once a republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils, but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles: every other correction is either useless or a new evil."
and
"But, when their morals were corrupted, the more power they were possessed of, the less prudent was their conduct; till, at length, upon becoming their own tyrants and slaves, they lost the strength of liberty, to fall into the weakness and impotency of licentiousness."
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