Charles de Secondat, Baron de la Brede et de Montesquieu was born in 1689 to a French noble family. "His family tree could be traced 350 years, which in his view made its name neither good nor bad." (The Encyclopedia of Social Sciences, p. 68) Montesquieu's views started to be shaped at a very early age. A beggar was chosen to be his godfather to remind him of his obligations to the poor. In the Considerations Montesquieu used …showed first 75 words of 490 total…

…showed last 75 words of 490 total…with luxury; monarchies with poverty." Montesquieu, The Spirit of Laws, Bk. VII, Ch. 4 "As distant as heaven is from the earth, so is the true spirit of equality from that of extreme equality... "In a true state of nature, indeed, all men are born equal, but they cannot continue in this equality. Society makes them lose it, and they recover it only by the protection of laws." Montesquieu, The Spirit of Laws, Bk. VIII, Ch. 3