The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities.

Nobody but a beggar chooses to depend chiefly upon the benevolence of his fellow-citizens.

The theory that can absorb the greatest number of facts, and persist in doing so, generation after generation, through all changes of opinion and detail, is the one that must rule all observation.

Humanity is the virtue of a woman, generosity that of a man.

It appears, accordingly, from the experience of all ages and nations, I believe, that the work done by freemen comes cheaper in the end than that performed by slaves.

The mob, when they are gazing at a dancer on the slack rope, naturally writhe and twist and balance their own bodies, as they see him do.

The great secret of education is to direct vanity to proper objects.