“If moral precepts alone could have reformed mankind, the mission of the Son of God into all the world would have been unnecessary. The perfect morality of the gospel rests upon the doctrine which, though often controverted has never been refuted: I mean the vicarious life and death of the Son of God.”

Mirth, and even cheerfulness, when employed as remedies in low spirits, are like hot water to a frozen limb.

Terror acts powerfully upon the body, through the medium of the mind, and should be employed in the cure of madness.

Without Virtue there can be no liberty

[W]here there is no law, there is no liberty; and nothing deserves the name of law but that which is certain and universal in its operation upon all the members of the community.

Dreams are nothing but incoherent ideas, occasioned by partial or imperfect sleep.

The Bible contains more knowledge necessary to man in his present state than any other book in the world.

Scandal dies sooner of itself, than we could kill it.

We have not only multiplied diseases, but we have made them more fatal.

Without the restraints of religion and social worship, men become savages much sooner than savages become civilized by means of religion and civil government.

I have always considered Christianity as the strong ground of republicanism.

I have alternately been called an Aristocrat and a Democrat. I am neither. I am a Christocrat.

Liberty without virtue would be no blessing to us.

Mothers and schools plant the seeds of nearly all the good and evil which exists in the world.

A belief in God’s universal love to all his creatures, and that he will finally restore all of them that are miserable to happiness, is a polar truth. . . It establishes the equality of [humanity]. . .

As the War Office of the United States was established in a time of peace, it is equally reasonable that a Peace Office should be established in a time of War.

Freedom can exist only in the society of knowledge. Without learning, men are incapable of knowing their rights.

Responsibility to yourself means that you don’t fall for shallow and easy solutions-it means that you refuse to sell your talents and aspirations short.

And all means of discovering them are equally admissible.

This means trying to bring values into environments, buildings, and contexts that improve the quality of life for future generations.

Life is a great and noble calling, not a mean and grovelling thing to be shuffled through as best as we can but a lofty and exalted destiny.

To be complex does not mean to be fragmented.

I think my work comes out of both an intense desire for connection and what it means to feel isolated. There’s always going to be a kind of tidal movement back and forth between the two.

For then only will you be strong, when you cherish the laws, and when the revolutionary attempts of lawless men shall have ceased.

I love laugh lines. It means you’ve had a good life.