“We ought to be very cautious and circumspect in the prosecution of magic and heresy. The attempt to put down these two crimes may be extremely perilous to liberty.”

Love of the republic in a democracy, is a love of the democracy; love of the democracy is that of equality. Love of the democracy is likewise that of frugality.

But constant experience shows us that every man invested with power is apt to abuse it, and to carry his authority as far as it will go.

Happy the people whose annals are tiresome.

If we only wanted to be happy, it would be easy; but we want to be happier than other people, and that is almost always difficult, since we think them happier than they are.

Very good laws may be ill timed.

There is only one thing that can form a bond between men, and that is gratitude… we cannot give someone else greater power over us than we have ourselves.

When the savages of Louisiana wish to have fruit, they cut the tree at the bottom and gather the fruit. That is exactly a despotic government.

The spirit of moderation should also be the spirit of the lawgiver.

We must have constantly present in our minds the difference between independence and liberty. Liberty is a right of doing whatever the laws permit, and if a citizen could do what they forbid he would no longer be possessed of liberty.

Laws undertake to punish only overt acts.

Although born in a prosperous realm, we did not believe that its boundaries should limit our knowledge, and that the lore of the East should alone enlighten us.

The English are busy folk; they have no time in which to be polite.

The prejudices of superstition are superior to all others, and have the strongest influence on the human mind.

When God endowed human beings with brains, He did not intend to guarantee them.

Friendship is a contract in which we render small services in expectation of big ones.

It is not the young people that degenerate; they are not spoiled till those of mature age are already sunk into corruption.

There have been only 268 of the past 3,421 years free of war.

Timidity betrays want of powers, and audacity a want of skill. There are, indeed, two things, knowledge and opinion, of which the one makes its possessor really to know, the other to be ignorant.

The truth is, the greatest tool to lift children and families from poverty is one that decreases the probability of child poverty by 82%. But it isn’t a government spending program. It’s called marriage.

A writer needs three things, experience, observation, and imagination, any two of which, at times any one of which, can supply the lack of the others.

We want a fully comprehensive trade deal that reflects our deep, ongoing relationship, the friendship between our two countries.

War and drink are the two things man is never too poor to buy.

There are two kinds of faith. There is the natural faith. But the supernatural faith is the gift of God.

The philosophy behind much advertising is based on the old observation that every man is really two men – the man he is and the man he wants to be.