When slavery is established in any part of the world, those who are free are by far the most proud and jealous of their freedom.

We must not always judge of the generality of the opinion by the noise of the acclamation.

But whoever is a genuine follower of Truth, keeps his eye steady upon his guide, indifferent whither he is led, provided that she is the leader.

Power, in whatever hands, is rarely guilty of too strict limitations on itself.

Poetry is the art of substantiating shadows, and of lending existence to nothing.

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.

Flattery is no more than what raises in a man's mind an idea of a preference which he has not.