Evil triumphs when good men do nothing.

The patriot, like the Christian, must learn to bear revilings and persecutions as a part of his duty; and in proportion as the trial is severe, firmness under it becomes more requisite and praiseworthy. It requires, indeed, self-command. But that will be fortified in proportion as the calls for its exercise are repeated.

A lottery is a salutary instrument and a tax... laid on the willing only, that is to say, on those who can risk the price of a ticket without sensible injury, for the possibility of a higher prize.

Congress has scarcely any thing to employ them, and complain that the place [Washington, D.C.] is remarkably dull.

To the corruptions of Christianity I am indeed opposed; but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus himself.

No stile of writing is so delightful as that which is all pith, which never omits a necessary word, nor uses an unnecessary one.

Nature intended me for the tranquil pursuits of science by rendering them my supreme delight.