The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew.

I do not deny the possibility that the people may err in an election; but if they do, the true [cure] is in the next election, and not in the treachery of the person elected.

No policy that does not rest upon some philosophical public opinion can be permanently maintained.

The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present.

The power of hope upon human exertion, and happiness, is wonderful.

Don't swap horses in the middle of the stream.

I hope to stand firm enough to not go backward, and yet not go forward fast enough to wreck the country's cause.