One source of the sublime is infinity.

Falsehood and delusion are allowed in no case whatever; but, as in the exercise of all the virtues, there is an economy of truth. It is a sort of temperance, by which a man speaks truth with measure, that he may speak it the longer.

Wise men will apply their remedies to vices, not to names; to the causes of evil which are permanent, not the occasional organs by which they act, and the transitory modes in which they appear.

The science of constructing a commonwealth, or renovating it, or reforming it, is, like every other experimental science, not to be taught a priori. Nor is it a short experience that can instruct us in that practical science, because the real effects of moral causes are not always immediate.

It is not what a lawyer tells me I may do; but what humanity, reason, and justice tell me I ought to do.

There is nothing in the world really beneficial that does not lie within the reach of an informed understanding and a well-protected pursuit.

Prudence is not only the first in rank of the virtues political and moral, but she is the director and regulator, the standard of them all.