Nobility is a graceful ornament to the civil order. It is the Corinthian capital of polished society.

There are circumstances in which despair does not imply inactivity.

I do not hesitate to say that the road to eminence and power, from an obscure condition, ought not to be made too easy, nor a thing too much of course. If rare merit be the rarest of all things, it ought to pass through some sort of probation. The temple of honor ought to be seated on an eminence. If it be open through virtue, let it be remembered, too, that virtue is never tried but by some difficulty and some struggle.

I cannot help concurring with the opinion that an absolute democracy, no more than absolute monarchy, is to be reckoned among the legitimate forms of government.

When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.

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

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