The people have a right to keep and bear arms.

Bad men cannot make good citizens.

That religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and therefore all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of the conscience; and it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity towards each other.

My great objection to this government is, that it does not leave us the means of defending our rights, or of waging war against tyrants.

It is when a people forget God, that tyrants forge their chains.

Show me that age and country where the rights and liberties of the people were placed on the sole chance of their rulers being good men, without a consequent loss of liberty?

When the American spirit was in its youth, the language of America was different: Liberty, sir, was the primary object.