Some have said that it is not the business of private men to meddle with government--a bold and dishonest saying, which is fit to come from no mouth but that of a tyrant or a slave. To say that private men have nothing to do with government is to say that private men have nothing to do with their own happiness or misery; that people ought not to concern themselves whether they be naked or clothed, fed or starved, deceived or instructed, protected or destroyed.

The primary virtue is: hold your tongue; who knows how to keep quiet is close to God.

I think the first wisdom is to restrain the tongue.

Don't promise twice what you can do at once.

Speak briefly and to the point.

Bitter are the roots of study, but how sweet their fruit.

Those magistrates who can prevent crime, and do not, in effect encourage it.