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.

Of all the countries of the world America is the one where the movement of thought and human industry is the most continuous and swift.

When the people rule, they must be rendered happy, or they will overturn the state.

Religion, which never intervenes directly in the government of American society, should therefore be considered as the first of their political institutions

The civil jury is the most effective form of sovereignty of the people. It defies the aggressions of time and man. During the reigns of Henry VIII (1509-1547) and Elizabeth I (1158-1603), the civil jury did in reality save the liberties of England.

With much care and skill power has been broken into fragments in the American township, so that the maximum possible number of people have some concern with public affairs.

The aspect of American society is animated, because men and things are always changing; but it is monotonous, because all the changes are alike.