General rebellions and revolts of a whole people never were encouraged now or at any time. They are always provoked.

Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites.

Society is indeed a contract. It is a partnership in all science; a partnership in all art; a partnership in every virtue, and in all perfection. As the ends of such a partnership cannot be obtained in many generations, it becomes a partnership not only between those who are living, but between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born.

If the prudence of reserve and decorum dictates silence in some circumstances, in others prudence of a higher order may justify us in speaking our thoughts.

But a good patriot, and a true politician, always considers how he shall make the most of the existing materials of his country. A disposition, to preserve, and an ability to improve, taken together, would be my standard of a statesman. Everything else is vulgar in the conception, perilous in the execution.

Good company, lively conversation, and the endearments of friendship fill the mind with great pleasure.

Applause is the spur of noble minds, the end and aim of weak ones.