A man is allowed sufficient freedom of thought, provided he knows how to choose his subject properly.... But the scene is changed as you come homeward, and atheism or treason may be the names given in Britain to what would be reason and truth if asserted in China.

Adversity is a severe instructor, set over us by one who knows us better than we do ourselves.

A nation is not conquered which is perpetually to be conquered.

The tyranny of a multitude is a multiplied tyranny.

Though ugliness be the opposite of beauty, it is not the opposite to proportion and fitness; for it is possible that a thing may be very ugly with any proportions, and with a perfect fitness for any use.

Whenever a separation is made between liberty and justice, neither, in my opinion, is safe.

A disposition to preserve, and an ability to improve, taken together, would be my standard of a statesman.