A nation may be said to consist of its territory, its people, and its laws. The territory is the only part which is of certain durability.

Let reverence for the laws . . . become the political religion of the nation.

What constitutes the bulwark of our own liberty and independence?

Lincoln called laughter "the joyous, beautiful, universal evergreen of life."

If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem. It is true that you may fool all of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all of the time; but you can't fool all of the people all of the time. -Speech at Clinton, Illinois, September 8, 1854.

It is the man who does not want to express an opinion whose opinion I want.

Doubtless you begin to understand how disagreeable it is to me to do a thing arbitrarily, when it is unsatisfactory to others associated with me.