Those who take oaths to politically powerful secret societies cannot be depended on for loyalty to a democratic republic.

If there have been those who doubted whether a confederated representative democracy were a government competent to the wise and orderly management of the common concerns of a mighty nation, those doubts have been dispelled.

Of all persecuted sects, the Baptists stand forth as most prominent, simply and only because they aim at a more complete and thorough reform than any others ever attempted. They teach that Christ's kingdom is not of this world; that the church is not a national, political, or provincial establishment; but a congregation of holy men, separated from the world by the receiving of the Holy Spirit.

Idleness is sweet, and its consequences are cruel.

The mere title of lawyer is sufficient to deprive a man of the public confidence. ... The most innocent and irreproachable life cannot guard a lawyer against the hatred of his fellow citizens.

I am a warrior, so that my son may be a merchant, so that his son may be a poet.

Civil liberty can be established on no foundation of human reason which will not at the same time demonstrate the right of religious freedom.