Piety sometimes gives birth to scruples, and faith to superstition, when they are not directed by wisdom and knowledge.

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.

Towns were the nursery of freedom.

If the past has been an obstacle and a burden, knowledge of the past is the safest and the surest emancipation.

The will of the people cannot make just that which is unjust.

The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks.

A public man has no right to let his actions be determined by particular interests. He does the same thing as a judge who accepts a bribe. Like a judge he must consider what is right, not what is advantageous to a party or class.