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.

Man acts from adequate motives relative to his interest, and not on metaphysical speculations.

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.

He that struggles with us strengthens our nerves, and sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper.

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

It is by imitation, far more than by precept, that we learn everything; and what we learn thus, we acquire not only more effectually, but more pleasantly.

Crimes lead into one another. They who are capable of being forgers, are capable of being incendiaries.