Men always try to make virtues of their weaknesses. Fear of death and fear of life both become piety.

I believe that any man who takes the liberty of another into his keeping is bound to become a tyrant, and that any man who yields up his liberty, in however slight the measure, is bound to become a slave.

The American people, North and South, went into the [Civil] war as citizens of their respective states, they came out as subjects ... what they thus lost they have never got back.

One seldom discovers a true believer that is worth knowing.

The essence of science is that it is always willing to abandon a given idea for a better one; the essence of theology is that it holds its truths to be eternal and immutable.

Men always try to make virtues of their weaknesses. Fear of death and fear of life both become piety.

Unsuccessful candidates for the Presidency should be quietly hanged as a matter of public sanitation and decorum.