“No man is entirely free from weakness and imperfection in this life.”

Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone.

Defeat appears to me preferable to total inaction.

Above all, except the wife and children, I want to see my books.

To furnish the means of acquiring knowledge is, the greatest benefit that can be conferred upon mankind. It prolongs life itself and enlarges the sphere of existence.

The will of the people is the source and the happiness of the people the end of all legitimate government upon earth.

Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people.

I read my eyes out and can’t read half enough neither. The more one reads the more one sees we have to read.

I am a warrior, so that my son may be a merchant, so that his son may be a poet.

To believe all men honest would be folly. To believe none so, is something worse.

It was the special purpose of Christ’s appearance upon earth to bring immortality to light.

Be a great speaker, become a leader.

Roll, years of promise, rapidly roll round, till not a slave shall on this earth be found.

Thus situated, the perilous experiment must be made. Let me make it with full deliberations, and be prepared for the consequences.

Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.

Virtue is not always amiable.

We understand now, we’ve been made to understand, and to embrace the understanding that who we are is who we were.