What is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.

The most productive system of finance will always be the least burdensome.

The advice nearest to my heart and deepest in my convictions is that the Union of the States be cherished and perpetuated.

A standing military force, with an overgrown Executive will not long be safe companions to liberty.

The belief in a God All Powerful wise and good, is so essential to the moral order of the world and to the happiness of man, that arguments which enforce it cannot be drawn from too many sources nor adapted with too much solicitude to the different characters and capacities impressed with it.

The regulation of these various and interfering interests forms the principal task of modern legislation and involves the spirit of party and faction in the necessary and ordinary operations of government.

Our country, if it does justice to itself, will be the workshop of liberty to the civilized world.