...men endeavor to sink us still lower, merely to render us alluring objects for a moment; and women, intoxicated by the adoration which men, under the influence of their senses, pay them, do not seek to obtain a durable interest in their hearts, or to become the friends of the fellow creatures who find amusement in their society.

Society can only be happy and free in proportion as it is virtuous.

We cannot, without depraving our minds, endeavour to please a lover or husband, but in proportion as he pleases us.

It is the preservation of the species, not of individuals, which appears to be the design of Deity throughout the whole of nature.

When poverty is more disgraceful than even vice, is not morality cut to the quick?

The birthright of man ... is such a degree of liberty, civil and religious, as is compatible with the liberty of every other individual with whom he is united in a social compact.

Friendship and domestic happiness are continually praised; yet how little is there of either in the world, because it requires more cultivation of mind to keep awake affection, even in our own hearts, than the common run of people suppose.