The People (n.) that would always govern well would not need to be governed.
The People (n.) is never corrupted, but it is often deceived — and only then does it seem to will what is bad.
The People (n.) gives its rulers great credit for all the evil they refrain from doing it, and adores them if they do not absolutely hate it.
The People (n.) wills the good it does not see, while individuals see the good they reject; both need guidance.
The People (n.) that promises simply to obey dissolves itself by that very act: the moment a master exists there is no longer a sovereign.
The People (n.) may always change its laws, however good: if it chooses to do itself harm, who can have a right to stop it?
The People (n.) like men are docile only in youth: grown old, they rave at the sight of the doctor and cannot bear anyone to touch their faults.
The People (n.) must already be a people before it can give itself to a king; the act by which it became a people is the true foundation of society.
The People (n.) are mankind: those who are not the people are too few to count — remove all the kings and philosophers and they would scarcely be missed.
People (n.) is the name of the members of the body-politic and they are called 'citizens' when speaking of their participation in the authority of the sovereign and 'subjects' when speaking of their subordination to the laws of the state.