Believing that the happiness of mankind is best promoted by the useful pursuits of peace, that on these alone a stable prosperity can be founded, that the evils of war are great in their endurance, and have a long reckoning for ages to come, I have used my best endeavors to keep our country uncommitted in the troubles which afflict Europe, and which assail us on every side.

Give up money, give up fame, give up science, give the earth itself and all it contains rather than do an immoral act. And never suppose that in any possible situation, or under any circumstances, it is best for you to do a dishonorable thing, however slightly so it may appear to you.

Let us in education dream of an aristocracy of achievement arising out of a democracy of opportunity

In a government bottomed on the will of all, the... liberty of every individual citizen becomes interesting to all.

I see the necessity of sacrificing our opinions sometimes to the opinions of others for the sake of harmony.

The plough is to the farmer what the wand is to the sorcerer. Its effect is really like sorcery.

The several states composing the United States of America are not united on the principle of unlimited submission to their general government