Nothing in progression can rest on its original plan. We may as well think of rocking a grown man in the cradle of an infant.

No government ought to exist for the purpose of checking the prosperity of its people or to allow such a principle in its policy.

It is very rare, indeed, for men to be wrong in their feelings concerning public misconduct; as rare to be right in their speculations upon the cause of it. I have constantly observed that the generality of people are fifty years, at least, behind in their politics.

By looking into physical causes our minds are opened and enlarged; and in this pursuit, whether we take or whether we lose the game, the chase is certainly of service.

The hottest fires in hell are reserved for those who remain neutral in times of moral crisis.

The great must submit to the dominion of prudence and of virtue, or none will long submit to the dominion of the great.

The wisdom of our ancestors.