The tendency of democracies is, in all things, to mediocrity.

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

Hope is the most treacherous of all human fancies.

The tendency of democracies is, in all things, to mediocrity.

All that a good government aims at... is to add no unnecessary and artificial aid to the force of its own unavoidable consequences, and to abstain from fortifying and accumulating social inequality as a means of increasing political inequalities.

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

Candor is a proof of both a just frame of mind, and of a good tone of breeding. It is a quality that belongs equally to the honest man and to the gentleman.