One of the first lessons a president has to learn is that every word he says weighs a ton.

The government of the United States is a device for maintaining in perpetuity the rights of the people, with the ultimate extinction of all privileged classes.

The welfare of the weakest and the welfare of the most powerful are inseparably bound together. ... The general welfare cannot be provided for in any one act, but it is well to remember that the benefit of one is the benefit of all, and the neglect of one is the neglect of all.

The right thing to do never requires any subterfuge, it is always simple and direct.

This country would not be a land of opportunity, America could not be America, if the people were shackled with government monopolies.

The best help that benevolence and philanthropy can give is that which induces everybody to help himself.

It is hard to see how a great man can be an atheist. . . . We need to feel that behind us is intelligence and love.