Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence . . . the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake.

It is impossible to account for the creation of the universe without the agency of a Supreme Being.

A small knowledge of human nature will convince us, that, with far the greatest part of mankind, interest is the governing principle... Few men are capable of making a continual sacrifice of all views of private interest, or advantage, to the common good. It is vain to exclaim against the depravity of human nature on this account; the fact is so, the experience of every age and nation has proved it and we must in a great measure, change the constitution of man, before we can make it otherwise. No institution, not built on the presumptive truth of these maxims can succeed.

You have only one way to convince others, listen to them.

An ambassador has no need of spies; his character is always sacred.

A pack of jackasses led by a lion is superior to a pack of lions led by a jackass.

Religious controversies are always productive of more acrimony and irreconcilable hatreds than those which spring from any other cause: And I was not without hopes that the enlightened and liberal policy of ⟨the present⟩ age would have put an effectual stop to contentions of this Kind.