“If a cause be good, the most violent attack of its enemies will not injure it so much as an injudicious defence of it by its friends.”

The rich are more envied by those who have a little, than by those who have nothing.

True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known until it is lost.

Cruel men are the greatest lovers of Mercy, avaricious men of generosity, and proud men of humility; that is to say, in other, not in themselves.

Pure truth, like pure gold, has been found unfit for circulation because men have discovered that it is far more convenient to adulterate the truth than to refine themselves.

That which we acquire with the most difficulty we retain the longest; as those who have earned a fortune are usually more careful of it than those who have inherited one.

Silence is foolish if we are wise, but wise if we are foolish.

Imitation is the sincerest of flattery.

We are sure to be losers when we quarrel with ourselves; it is civil war.

The two most precious things this side of the grave are our reputation and our life. But it is to be lamented that the most contemptible whisper may deprive us of the one, and the weakest weapon of the other.

He that dies a martyr proves that he was not a knave, but by no means that he was not a fool.

To know the pains of power, we must go to those who have it; to know its pleasures, we must go to those who are seeking it: the pains of power are real, its pleasures imaginary.

It is curious that some learned dunces, because they can write nonsense in languages that are dead, should despise those that talk sense in languages that are living.

If you cannot inspire a woman with love of you, fill her above the brim with love of herself; all that runs over will be yours.

I have somewhere seen it observed that we should make the same use of a book that the bee does of a flower: she steals sweets from it, but does not injure it.

Butler compared the tongues of these eternal talkers to race-horses, which go the faster the less weight they carry.

There are three modes of bearing the ills of life; by indifference, which is the most common; by philosophy, which is the most ostentatious; and by religion, which is the most effectual.

The Clintons opposed gay marriage. They did don’t ask, don’t tell. They did the Defense of Marriage Act.

They scored 26 points in three quarters. That’s solid defense.

Right is its own defense.

We are using missile defense to protect our civilians, and they’re using their civilians to protect their missiles.

Then when I fire, you see, I have the verdict of self-defence on my side. I know that he is pretty certain in his hurry, to miss. I never do.

I voted for the Defense of Marriage Act but I do not believe we should institutionalize a form of discrimination against any minority by amending the Constitution.

The president, just as any other American, deserves a legal defense against personal lawsuits not related to his office. But the costs of that defense should be borne by him and not the taxpayer.

The logical thing is to implement the Arab Defense Agreement.