The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppose.

Who would be free themselves must strike the blow. Better even to die free than to live slaves.

The opposite of compromise is character.

If we would reach a degree of civilization higher and grander than any yet attained, we should welcome to our ample continent all the nations, kindreds, tongues and peoples, and as fast as they learn our language and comprehend the duties of citizenship, we should incorporate them into the American body politic. The outspread wings of the American eagle are broad enough to shelter all who are likely to come.

I glory in the conflict, that I may hereafter exult in the victory. I know that victory is certain.

The thing worse than rebellion is the thing that causes rebellion.

The marriage institution cannot exist among slaves, and one sixth of the population of democratic America is denied it's privileges by the law of the land. What is to be thought of a nation boasting of its liberty, boasting of it's humanity, boasting of its Christianity, boasting of its love of justice and purity, and yet having within its own borders three millions of persons denied by law the right of marriage?