“I had hoped that liberal and enlightened thought would have reconciled the Christians so that their religious fights would not endanger the peace of Society.”

Religious controversies are always productive of more acrimony and irreconcilable hatreds than those which spring from any other cause.

A slender acquaintance with the world must convince every man that actions, not words, are the true criterion of the attachment of friends.

Perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages.

The nation which indulges toward another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave.

Paper money has had the effect in your state that it will ever have, to ruin commerce, oppress the honest, and open the door to every species of fraud and injustice.

I conceive a knowledge of books is the basis upon which other knowledge is to be built.

Man is the religious animal.

If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it.

It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.

We have probably had too good an opinion of human nature in forming our confederation.

Things in life will not always run smoothly. Sometimes we will be rising toward the heights—then all will seem to reverse itself and start downward.

Associate yourself with men of good quality, if you esteem your own reputation; for ‘tis better to be alone than in bad company.

Government is not reason; it is not eloquence. It is force. And force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.

Make sure you are doing what God wants you to do – then do it with all your strength.

No punishment, in my opinion, is to great, for the man who can build his greatness upon his country’s ruin.

I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality.

Only one person in a million becomes enlightened without a teacher’s help.

To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by the ten thousand things.

It’s possible to be completely enlightened… except with your family.

We need a spirit of victory, a spirit that will carry us to our rightful place under the sun, a spirit which can recognize that we, as inheritors of a proud civilization, are entitled to our rightful place on this planet. If that indomitable spirit were to arise, nothing can hold us from achieving our rightful destiny.

A World of Wealth is not only a lively read, but an exceptionally enlightening and rewarding one to boot.

We mortals are composed of two great schools Enlightened knaves or else religious fools.

For the anointed, traditions are likely to be seen as the dead hand of the past, relics of a less enlightened age, and not as the distilled experience of millions who faced similar human vicissitudes before.

Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and opressions of the body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day.