Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience, then? I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right... Law never made men a whit more just; and, by means of their respect for it, even the well-disposed are daily made the agents of injustice.

It is pitiful when a man bears a name for convenience merely, who has earned neither name nor fame.

How important is a constant intercourse with nature and the contemplation of natural phenomena to the preservation of moral and intellectual health!

There have been some nations who could do nothing but construct tombs, and these are the only traces which they have left. They are the heathen.

Friends will be much apart. They will respect more each other's privacy than their communion.

The stars are distant and unobtrusive, but bright and enduring as our fairest and most memorable experiences.

I see less difference between a city and a swamp than formerly.