Contact with the affairs of state is one of the most corrupting of the influences to which men are exposed.

I've heard it said that there are men who read in books to convince themselves there is a God. I know not but man may so deform his works in the settlements, as to leave that which is so clear in the wilderness a matter of doubt among traders and priests.

The very existence of government at all, infers inequality. The citizen who is preferred to office becomes the superior of those who are not, so long he is the repository of power.

No civilized society can long exist, with an active power in its bosom that is stronger than the law.

Perfection is always found in maturity, whether it be in the animal or in the intellectual world. Reflection is the mother of wisdom, and wisdom the parent of success.

We are all human, and all do wrong.

The expanse of the ocean is seldom seen by the novice with indifference.