There are other places at which ... the laws have said there shall be towns; but Nature has said there shall not, and they remain unworthy of enumeration.

Were I to commence my administration again, the first question I would ask respecting a candidate would be, Does he use ardent spirits?

Dependence leads to subservience.

What justice would there be to take this life? Justice, gentlemen? Why, I would just as soon put a hog in the electric chair as this.

Government is being founded on opinion, the opinion of the public, even when it is wrong, ought to be respected to a certain degree.

In every government on earth is some trace of human weakness, some germ of corruption and degeneracy, which cunning will discover, and wickedness insensibly open, cultivate and improve.

Civil government being the sole object of forming societies, its administration must be conducted by common consent.