And remember, where you have a concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. History has proven that.

I mourn for the stake which was lost at Richmond more deeply than I rejoice over that which was saved at Waterloo.

There is not a soul who does not have to beg alms of another, either a smile, a handshake, or a fond eye.

The mills of God grind slowly.

Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority...

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.

Every thing secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity.