In a free government almost all other rights would become worthless if the government possessed power over the private fortune of every citizen.

No political dreamer was ever wild enough to think of breaking down the lines which separate the States and compounding the American people into one common mass.

It is the peculiar province of the legislature to prescribe general rules for the government of society; the application of those rules to individuals in society would seem to be the duty of other departments.

To listen well is as powerful a means of communication and influence as to talk well

State inspection laws, health laws, and laws for regulating the internal commerce of a State, and those which respect turnpike roads, ferries, &c. are not within the power granted to Congress. ... Inspection laws, quarantine laws, health laws of every description, as well as laws for regulating the internal commerce of a State, and those which respect turnpike roads, ferries, &c., are component parts of this mass. No direct general power over these objects is granted to Congress, and, consequently, they remain subject to State legislation.

A corporation is an artificial being, invisible, intangible, and existing only in contemplation of law.

An unlimited power to tax involves, necessarily, a power to destroy; because there is a limit beyond which no institution and no property can bear taxation.