To give liberty to a slave before he understands its value is, perhaps, rather to impose a penalty than to bestow a blessing.

It was in this year, 1828, that the standard of "the Christian Party in Politics" was openly unfurled... This was an evident attempt, through the influence of the clergy over the female mind - until this hour lamentably neglected in the United States - to effect a union of Church and State.

Of the thousands who have paid homage to virtue, barely one has thought to inspect the pedestal on which it stands.

These will vary in every human being; but knowledge is the same for every mind, and every mind may and ought to be trained to receive it.

The simplest principles become difficult of practice, when habits, formed in error, have been fixed by time, and the simplest truths hard to receive when prejudice has warped the mind.

Credulity is always a ridiculous, often a dangerous failing: it has made of many a clever man, a fool; and of many a good man, a knave.

All that I say is, examine, inquire. Look into the nature of things. Search out the grounds of your opinions, the for and against. Know why you believe, understand what you believe, and possess a reason for the faith that is in you.