The health of a democratic society may be measured by the quality of functions performed by private citizens.

When I refuse to obey an unjust law, I do not contest the right of the majority to command, but I simply appeal from the sovereignty of the people to the sovereignty of mankind.

Christianity is the companion of liberty in all its conflicts, the cradle of its infancy, and the divine source of its claims.

Rulers who destroy men's freedom commonly begin by trying to retain its forms. ... They cherish the illusion that they can combine the prerogatives of absolute power with the moral authority that comes from popular assent.

When an American asks for the cooperation of his fellow citizens, it is seldom refused; and I have often seen it afforded spontaneously and with great good will.

Laws are always unstable unless they are founded on the manners of a nation; and manners are the only durable and resisting power in a people.

I know of no other country where love of money has such a grip on men's hearts or where stronger scorn is expressed for the theory of permanent equality of property