The furnace of affliction produces refinement in states as well as individuals. And the new Governments we are assuming in every part will require a purification from our vices, and an augmentation of our virtues, or there will be no blessings.

The idea of infidelity [a disbelief in the inspiration of the Scriptures or the divine origin of Christianity] cannot be treated with too much resentment or too much horror. The man who can think of it with patience is a traitor in his heart and ought to be execrated [denounced] as one who adds the deepest hypocrisy to the blackest treason.

I had heard my father say that he never knew a piece of land run away or break.

The National defense is one of the cardinal duties of a statesman.

[I]t is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand. The only foundation of a free constitution is pure virtue.

There are only two creatures of value on the face of the earth: those with the commitment, and those who require the commitment of others.

I must judge for myself, but how can I judge, how can any man judge, unless his mind has been opened and enlarged by reading.