“It is the duty of every man, as far as his ability extends, to detect and expose delusion and error.”

Virtue is not hereditary.

The greatest tyrannies are always perpetuated in the name of the noblest causes.

Some people can be reasoned into sense, and others must be shocked into it.

A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not to be trusted by anybody.

It is easy to see that when republican virtue fails, slavery ensues.

Where knowledge is a duty, ignorance is a crime.

The mind once enlightened cannot again become dark.

Character is much easier kept than recovered.

Taxes were not raised to carry on wars, but that wars were raised to carry on taxes.

Government without a constitution, is a power without a right.

If those to whom power is delegated do well, they will be respected; if not, they will be despised.

If I do not believe as you believe, it proves that you do not believe as I believe, and that is all that it proves.

We have it in our power to begin the world over again.

The right of voting for representatives , is the primary right by which other rights are protected.

These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it NOW, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.

I don’t think I could do a reality show, no.

A retentive memory may be a good thing, but the ability to forget is the true token of greatness.

Here is my principle: Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle.

The most important thing a writer can have [is] the ability to live with the constant loneliness and a strong sense of revulsion for the banalities of everyday socializing.

Vitality shows in not only the ability to persist but the ability to start over.

It is not merely enough to have the ability to be persistant, you must also have the ability to start over.

No one in the world was ever you before, with your particular gifts and abilities and possibilities.

Patience is the ability to accept trouble, suffering, delay without getting angry or upset, I feel like if you can master patience you can master anything.