There are two things which a democratic people will always find very difficult - to begin a war and to end it.

The French want no-one to be their superior. The English want inferiors. The Frenchman constantly raises his eyes above him with anxiety. The Englishman lowers his beneath him with satisfaction.

By obliging men to turn their attention to other affairs than their own, it rubs off that private selfishness which is the rust of society.

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.

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

Town meetings are to liberty what primary schools are to science; they bring it within the people's reach.

The electors see their representative not only as a legislator for the state but also as the natural protector of local interests in the legislature; indeed, they almost seem to think that he has a power of attorney to represent each constituent, and they trust him to be as eager in their private interests as in those of the country.