The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the state shall not be questioned.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

Union of religious sentiments begets a surprising confidence, and ecclesiastical establishments tend to great ignorance and corruption; all of which facilitate the execution of mischievous projects.

Of all the enemies of public liberty, war is perhaps the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other.

Truth [comes only] from those ... who cultivate their reason.

Man is known to be a selfish, as well as a social being.

Wherever the real power in a Government lies, there is the danger of oppression.