The long term versus the short term argument is one used by losers.

It is bad to be oppressed by a minority, but it is worse to be oppressed by a majority.

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

A government does not desire its powers to be strictly defined, but the subjects require the line to be drawn with increasing precision.

That great political idea, sanctifying freedom and consecrating it to God, teaching men to treasure the liberties of others as their own and to defend them for the love of justice and charity more than as a claim of right, has been the soul of what is great and good in the progress of the last two hundred years.

A history that should pursue all the subtle threads from end to end might be eminently valuable, but not as a tribute to peace and conciliation.

Limitation is essential to authority. A government is legitimate only if it is effectively limited.