“All that needs to be done for evil to prevail is good men doing nothing.”

In history, a great volume is unrolled for our instruction, drawing the materials of future wisdom from the past errors and infirmities of mankind.

We must all obey the great law of change. It is the most powerful law of nature.

A great empire and little minds go ill together.

The grave is a common treasury, to which we must all be taken.

The use of force alone is but temporary. It may subdue for a moment; but it does not remove the necessity of subduing again; and a nation is not governed, which is perpetually to be conquered.

The tyranny of a multitude is a multiplied tyranny.

He that struggles with us strengthens our nerves, and sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper.

Good order is the foundation of all things.

Manners are of more importance than laws. Manners are what vex or soothe, corrupt or purify, exalt or debase, barbarize or refine us, by a constant, steady, uniform, insensible operation, like that of the air we breathe.

But what is liberty without wisdom, and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint.

Nothing turns out to be so oppressive and unjust as a feeble government.

I cannot conceive how any man can have brought himself to that pitch of presumption, to consider his country as nothing but carte blanche, upon which he may scribble whatever he pleases.

Equity money is dynamic and debt money is static.

The first and simplest emotion which we discover in the human mind, is curiosity.

True religion is the foundation of society. When that is once shaken by contempt, the whole fabric cannot be stable nor lasting.

It is a general popular error to suppose the loudest complainers for the public to be the most anxious for its welfare.

The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.

I would rather be ignorant than knowledgeable of evils.

Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man.

The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.

I would rather be ignorant than knowledgeable of evils.

Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man.

I know indeed what evil I intend to do, but stronger than all my afterthoughts is my fury, fury that brings upon mortals the greatest evils.

Evil is nourished and grows by concealment.