A slave government is an oligarchy; and one, too, of the most arbitrary and criminal character.

A man's 'original and natural right' to make all contracts that are 'intrinsically obligatory,' and to coerce the fulfillment of them, is one of the most valuable and indispensable of all human possessions.

It is a natural impossibility for any man to make a binding contract, by which he shall surrender to others a single one of what are commonly called his 'natural, inherent, inalienable rights.'

But that the people are stronger than the government, and will resist in extreme cases, our governments would be little or nothing else than organized systems of plunder and oppression.

All know the importance of sustaining the hopes of a sick man. The reason of this is that his nervous system is then, vastly more than in health, susceptible to the influence of particular states of the mind.

The secret ballot makes a secret government; and a secret government is a secret band of robbers and murderers.

Vices are those acts by which a man harms himself or his property. Crimes are those acts by which one man harms the person or property of another.