Of all the contrivances for cheating the laboring classes of mankind, none has been more effective than that which deludes them with paper money.

Justice, sir, is the great interest of man on earth. It is the ligament which holds civilized beings and civilized nations together. Wherever her temple stands, and so long as it is duly honored, there is a foundation for general security, general happiness, and the improvement and progress of our race.

I was born an American; I will live an American; I shall die an American.

It is simple to follow the easy and familiar path of personal ambition and private gain. It is more comfortable to sit content in the easy approval of friends and of neighbours than to risk the friction and the controversy that comes with public affairs. It is easier to fall in step with the slogans of others than to march to the beat of the internal drummer - to make and stand on judgements of your own. And it far easier to accept and to stand on the past, than to fight for the answers of the future

A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures.

There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters

The most important thought that ever occupied my mind is that of my individual responsibility to God.