To presume a want of motives for such contests . . . would be to forget that men are ambitious, vindictive, and rapacious.

It is of the nature of war to increase the executive at the expense of the legislative authority.

What is the most sacred duty and the greatest source of our security in a Republic? An inviolable respect for the Constitution and Laws.

Let us recollect that peace or war will not always be left to our option; that however moderate or unambitious we may be, we cannot count upon the moderation, or hope to extinguish the ambition of others.

Hard words are very rarely useful. Real firmness is good for every thing. Strut is good for nothing.

The praise of a civilized world is justly due to Christianity;—war, by the influence of the humane principles of that religion, has been stripped of half its horrors. The French renounce Christianity, and they relapse into barbarism;—war resumes the same hideous and savage form which it wore in the ages of Gothic and Roman violence.

Give all the power to the many, they will oppress the few. Give all the power to the few, they will oppress the many.