Money is a machine for doing quickly and commodiously what would be done, though less quickly and commodiously, without it.

In this age, the mere example of nonconformity, the mere refusal to bend the knee to custom, is itself a service.

All political revolutions, not affected by foreign conquest, originate in moral revolutions. The subversion of established institutions is merely one consequence of the previous subversion of established opinions.

Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservative.

The philosophy of reasoning, to be complete, ought to comprise the theory of bad as well as of good reasoning.

A people may prefer a free government, but if by momentary discouragement or temporary panic, or a fit of enthusiasm for an individual, they can be induced to lay their liberties at the feet of even a great man, or trust him with powers to subvert their institutions, in all these cases they are unfit for liberty.

There is one characteristic of the present direction of public opinion, peculiarly calculated to make it intolerant of any marked demonstration of individuality. The general average of mankind are not only moderate in intellect, but also moderate in inclinations: they have no tastes or wishes strong enough to incline them to do anything unusual, and they consequently do not understand those who have, and class all such with the wild and intemperate whom they are accustomed to look down upon.