So confident am I in the intentions, as well as wisdom, of the government, that I shall always be satisfied that what is not done, either cannot, or ought not to be done.

An hereditary aristocracy... will change the form of our governments from the best to the worst in the world.

Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.

[The people] are in truth the only legitimate proprietors of the soil and government.

That government that governs least governs best.

The general (federal) government will tend to monarchy, which will fortify itself from day to day, instead of working its own cures.

To take a single step beyond the boundaries specially drawn around the powers of Congress is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible to definition.

The tumults in America I expected would have produced in Europe an unfavorable opinion of our political state. But it has not. On the contrary, the small effect of these tumults seems to have given more confidence in the firmness of our governments. The interposition of the people themselves on the side of government has had a great effect on the opinion here in Europe.

No government can continue good, but under the control of the people.