To all our means of culture is added the powerful incentive to personal ambition, no post of honor is so high but the poorest may hope to reach it.

I love to deal with doctrines and events. The contests of men about men I greatly dislike.

They grow stiff in the joints. They get in a rut. They go to seed.

In my judgment it is the duty of Congress, while respecting to the uttermost the conscientious convictions and religious scruples of every citizen, to prohibit within its jurisdiction all criminal practices ... Nor can any ecclesiastical organization be safely permitted to usurp in the smallest degree the functions and powers of the National Government.

There are times in the history of men and nations, when they stand so near the vale that separates mortals from the immortals, time from eternity, and men from their God, that they can almost hear the beatings, and feel the pulsations of the heart of the Infinite.

The civil service can never be placed on a satisfactory basis until it is regulated by law.

I would rather believe something and suffer for it, than to slide along into success without opinions.