I studied the Quran a great deal. I came away from that study with the conviction that by and large there have been few religions in the world as deadly to men as that of Muhammad. As far as I can see, it is the principal cause of the decadence so visible today in the Muslim world and, though less absurd than the polytheism of old, its social and political tendencies are in my opinion more to be feared, and I therefore regard it as a form of decadence rather than a form of progress in relation to paganism itself.

[R]eligion cannot share the material strength of the rulers without being burdened with some of the animosity roused against them.

We can state with conviction, therefore, that a man's support for absolute government is in direct proportion to the contempt he feels for his country.

In the United States, if a political character attacks a sect, this may not prevent even the partisans of that very sect, from supporting him; but if he attacks all the sects together, every one abandons him and he remains alone.

Comfort becomes a goal when distinctions of rank are abolished and privileges destroyed.

The whole life of an American is passed like a game of chance, a revolutionary crisis, or a battle.

One has freedom as the principal means of action; the other has servitude. Their . . . paths [are] diverse; nevertheless, each seems called by some secret design of Providence one day to hold in its hands the destinies of half the world.