The most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities.

The mills of God grind slowly.

Government by idea tends to take in everything, to make the whole of society obedient to the idea. Spaces not so governed are unconquered, beyond the border, unconverted, a future danger.

The few have not strength to achieve great changes unaided; the many have not wisdom to be moved by truth unmixed.

Do not turn yourself from an end into a means-one does not justify the other.

Authority that does not exist for Liberty is not authority but force.

The true natural check on absolute democracy is the federal system, which limits the central government by the powers reserved, and the state governments by the powers they have ceded.