A nation cannot afford to do a mean thing.

Without knowledge there can be no sure progress. Vice and barbarism are the inseparable companions of ignorance. Nor is it too much to say that, except in rare instances, the highest virtue is attained only through intelligence.

The true grandeur of humanity is in moral elevation, sustained, enlightened and decorated by the intellect of man

I have never known a man who was sensual in his youth, who was high-minded when old.

Whether the Union stands or falls, I believe the profession of arms will henceforth be more desirable and more respected than it has been hitherto.

The highest greatness, surviving time and stone, is that which proceeds from the soul of man. Monarchs and cabinets, generals and admirals, with the pomp of court and the circumstance of war, in the lapse of time disappear from sight; but the pioneers of truth, though poor and lowly, especially those whose example elevates human nature, and teaches the rights of man, so that "a government of the people, by the people, for the people, may not perish from the earth;" such a harbinger can never be forgotten, and their renown spreads co-extensive with the cause they served so well.

From the beginning of our history the country has been afflicted with compromise. It is by compromise that human rights have been abandoned.