A nation may lose its ...

A nation may lose its liberties in a day and not miss them in a century.
A nation may lose its liberties in a day and not miss them in a century.
 Baron de Montesquieu

More phrases

All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.
I know but one freedom and that is the freedom of the mind.
 Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err.
The amount of happiness that you have depends on the amount of freedom you have in your heart.
 Thích Nhất Hạnh
Without freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom - and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech.

Quotes from the same author

It is not the young people that degenerate; they are not spoiled till those of mature age are already sunk into corruption.
 Baron de Montesquieu
Life was given to me as a favor, so I may abandon it when it is one no longer.
 Baron de Montesquieu
In the matter of dress one should always keep below one's ability.
 Baron de Montesquieu
I should like to abolish funerals; the time to mourn a person is at his birth, not his death.
 Baron de Montesquieu
Slavery, properly so called, is the establishment of a right which gives to one man such a power over another as renders him absolute master of his life and fortune.
 Baron de Montesquieu