General ideas are no proof of the strength, but rather of the insufficiency of the human intellect.

In a revolution, as in a novel, the most difficult part to invent is the end.

Nothing seems at first sight less important than the outward form of human actions, yet there is nothing upon which men set more store: they grow used to everything except to living in a society which has not their own manners.

Consider any individual at any period of his life, and you will always find him preoccupied with fresh plans to increase his comfort.

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

What is not yet done is only what we have not yet attempted to do.

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