I have no ambition to govern men; it is a painful and thankless office.
[The Federal Convention] is really an assembly of demigods.
It takes time to persuade men to do even what is for their own good.
Men possessing minds of the first order and who have had opportunities of being known and of acquiring the general confidence do not abound in any country beyond the wants of the country.
I prefer the tumult of liberty to the quiet of servitude
Free men do not ask permission to bear arms