A man can be trusted only up to low-water mark.

Liberty, next to religion has been the motive of good deeds and the common pretext of crime.

Machiavelli's teaching would hardly have stood the test of Parliamentary government, for public discussion demands at least the profession of good faith.

The wisdom of divine rule appears not in the perfection but in the improvement of the world... History is the true demonstration of Religion.

Guard against the prestige of great names; see that your judgments are your own; and do not shrink from disagreement; no trusting without testing

At all times sincere friends of freedom have been rare, and its triumphs have been due to minorities, that have prevailed by associating themselves with auxiliaries whose objects often differed from their own; and this association, which is always dangerous, has sometimes been disastrous.

The test of liberty is the position and security of minorities.