“What is it the Bible teaches us? – raping, cruelty, and murder. What is it the New Testament teaches us? – to believe that the Almighty committed debauchery with a woman engaged to be married, and the belief of this debauchery is called faith.”

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

When a man has so far corrupted and prostituted the chastity of his mind, as to [profess] things he does not believe, he has prepared himself for the commission of every other crime.

When it becomes necessary to do a thing, the whole heart and soul should go into the measure, or not attempt it.

I have always strenuously supported the right of every man to his own opinion, however different that opinion might be to mine. He who denies to another this right, makes a slave of himself to his present opinion, because he precludes himself the right of changing it.

Independence is my happiness, and I view things as they are, without regard to place or person; my country is the world, and my religion is to do good.

In Deism our reason and our belief become happily united. The wonderful structure of the universe, and everything we behold in the system of the creation, prove to us, far better than books can do, the existence of a God, and at the same time proclaim His attributes.

The strength and power of despotism consists wholly in the fear of resistance.

A Constitution is not the act of a Government, but of a people constituting a government, and a government without a constitution is a power without right.

The right of voting for representatives is the primary right by which other rights are protected. To take away this right is to reduce a man to slavery, for slavery consists in being subject to the will of another, and he that has not a vote in the election of representatives is in this case.

You cannot undermine police authority and then complain about rising crime.

All churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Muslim, are simply human inventions. They use fear to enslave us. They are a monopoly for power and profit.

The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

For though the flame of liberty may sometimes cease to shine, the coal can never expire.

I consider the war of America against Britain as the country’s war, the public’s war, or the war of the people in their own behalf, for the security of their natural rights, and the protection of their own property.

A constitution defines and limits the powers of the government it creates. It therefore follows, as a natural and also a logical result, that the governmental exercise of any power not authorized by the constitution is an assumed power, and therefore illegal.

Rights are not gifts from one man to another, nor from one class of men to another. It is impossible to discover any origin of rights otherwise than in the origin of man; it consequently follows that rights appertain to man in right of his existence, and must therefore be equal to every man.

I want to commit the murder I was imprisoned for.

I will demand a commitment to excellence and to victory, and that is what life is all about.

The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.

Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality.

Great organizations demand a high level of commitment by the people involved.

You need to make a commitment and once you make it then life will give you some answers.

Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.

As we look forward to the New Year, let’s resolve to recommit ourselves to the values we share.