I have ever held it as a maxim never to do that through another which it was impossible for me to execute myself

Liberty is the right to do what the law permits.

There is no nation so powerful, as the one that obeys its laws not from principals of fear or reason, but from passion.

We ought to be very cautious and circumspect in the prosecution of magic and heresy. The attempt to put down these two crimes may be extremely perilous to liberty.

Fain would I glide down a gentle river, but I am carried away by a torrent.

Better it is to say that the government most comfortable to nature is that which best agrees with the humor and disposition of the people in whose favor it is established.

The tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy.