Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.

The most favourable laws can do very little towards the happiness of people when the disposition of the ruling power is adverse to them.

The use of force alone is but temporary. It may subdue for a moment; but it does not remove the necessity of subduing again; and a nation is not governed, which is perpetually to be conquered.

As the rose-tree is composed of the sweetest flowers and the sharpest thorns, as the heavens are sometimes overcast—alternately tempestuous and serene—so is the life of man intermingled with hopes and fears, with joys and sorrows, with pleasure and pain.

Religion is essentially the art and the theory of the remaking of man. Man is not a finished creation.

People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors.

If we command our wealth, we shall be rich and free; if our wealth commands us, we are poor indeed.

He that struggles with us strengthens our nerves, and sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper.

Slavery is a weed that grows on every soil.