I was no party man myself, and the first wish of my heart was, if parties did exist, to reconcile them.

There can be no greater error than to expect, or calculate, upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard.

Let us impart all the blessings we possess, or ask for ourselves, to the whole family of mankind.

Extensive powers not exercised as far as was necessary have, I believe, scarcely ever failed to ruin the possessor.

It is . . . [the citizens] choice, and depends upon their conduct, whether they will be respectable and prosperous, or contemptable and miserable as a Nation. This is the time of their political probation; this is the moment when the eyes of the World are turned upon them.

I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy.

I beg you be persuaded that no one would be more zealous than myself to establish effectual barriers against the horrors of spiritual tyranny, and every species of religious persecution.