I did not go to Boston, for with regard to that place I sympathize with one of my neighbors, an old man, who has not been there since the last war, when he was compelled to go. No, I have a real genius for staying at home.

As for doing good; that is one of the professions which is full. Moreover I have tried it fairly and, strange as it may seem, am satisfied that it does not agree with my constitution.

Many, no doubt, are well disposed, but sluggish by constitution and habit, and they cannot conceive of a man who is actuated by higher motives than they are. Accordingly they pronounce this man insane, for they know that they could never act as he does, as long as they are themselves.

Eastward I go only by force; but westward I go free.

Government never furthered any enterprise but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way.

If Nature is our mother, then God is our father.

Give me a country where it is the most natural thing in the world for a government that does not understand you to let you alone.