After eight years as President I have only two regrets: that I have not shot Henry Clay or hanged John C. Calhoun.

Perpetuity is stamped upon the Constitution by the blood of our fathers.

I cannot consent that my mortal body shall be laid in a repository prepared for an Emperor or a King my republican feelings and principles forbid it the simplicity of our system of government forbids it.

We must regain Texas, peaceably if we can, forcibly if we must.

The great constitutional corrective in the hands of the people against usurpation of power, or corruption by their agents is the right of suffrage; and this when used with calmness and deliberation will prove strong enough.

This spirit of mob-law is becoming as great an evil as a servile war.

I do not forget that I am a mechanic. I am proud to own it. Neither do I forget that the apostle Paul was a tentmaker; Socrates was a sculptor; and Archimedes was a mechanic.