Get books, sit yourself down anywhere, and go to reading them yourself.

In those days, our Declaration of Independence was held sacred by all, and thought to include all; but now, to aid in the making the bondage of the negro universal and eternal, it is assailed, and sneered at, and construed, and hawked at, and torn, till, if its framers could rise from their graves, they could not at all recognize it.

Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.

Extemporaneous speaking should be practised and cultivated. It is the lawyer's avenue to the public.

I never tire of reading Tom Paine.

If all do not join now to save the good old ship of the Union this voyage nobody will have a chance to pilot her on another voyage.

The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma.