To get the inestimable good that freedom of the press assures one must know how to submit to the inevitable evil it gives rise to.

It profits me but little, after all, that a vigilant authority always protects the tranquility of my pleasures and constantly averts all dangers from my path, without my care or concern, if this same authority is the absolute master of my liberty and my life.

Society was cut in two: those who had nothing united in common envy; those who had anything united in common terror.

The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.

Despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot. How is it possible that society should escape destruction if the moral tie is not strengthened in proportion as the political tie is relaxed? And what can be done with a people who are their own masters if they are not submissive to the Deity?

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

However energetically society in general may strive to make all the citizens equal and alike, the personal pride of each individual will always make him try to escape from the common level, and he will form some inequality somewhere to his own profit.