“The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of the divinity itself; and can never be erased.”

An avaricious man might be tempted to betray the interests of the state for the acquisition of wealth.

Constitutions should consist only of general provisions; the reason is that they must necessarily be permanent, and that they cannot calculate for the possible change of things.

A powerful, victorious ally is yet another name for master.

The very aim and intention of the democratical part, or the house of commons, is to secure the rights of the people. It’s very being depends upon those rights. Its whole power is derived from them, and must be terminated by them.

Hard words are very rarely useful. Real firmness is good for every thing. Strut is good for nothing.

All communities divide themselves into the few and the many. The first are the rich and well-born, the other the mass of the people.

There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty, that makes human nature rise above itself, in acts of bravery and heroism.

Men are rather reasoning than reasonable animals, for the most part governed by the impulse of passion.

Cold in my professions, warm in my friendships, I wish, my Dear Laurens, it might be in my power, by action rather than words, to convince you that I love you.

The kindred blood which flows in the veins of American citizens, the mingled blood which they have shed in defense of their sacred rights, consecrate their Union, and excite horror at the idea of their becoming aliens, rivals, enemies.

Divide et impera must be the motto of every nation that either hates or fears us.

To all general purposes we have uniformly been one people each individual citizen everywhere enjoying the same national rights, privileges, and protection.

To all general purposes we have uniformly been one people each individual citizen everywhere enjoying the same national rights, privileges, and protection.

I have thought it my duty to exhibit things as they are, not as they ought to be.

Nobody expects to trust his body overmuch after the age of fifty.

A nation which can prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a master, and deserves one.

When we welcome this divine love, then we can respond similarly.

All men’s souls are immortal, but the souls of the righteous are immortal and divine.

You can love a person dear to you with a human love, but an enemy can only be loved with divine love.

If there is anything that links the human to the divine, it is the courage to stand by a principle when everybody else rejects it.

There is no God any more divine than Yourself.

I have my own soul. My own spark of divine fire.

To write is human, to edit is divine.

We are all born with a divine fire in us. Our efforts should be to give wings to this fire and fill the world with the glow of its goodness.