[A]lthough a republican government is slow to move, yet when once in motion, its momentum becomes irresistible.

No society is so precious as that of one’s own family.

Good humor is one of the preservatives of our peace and tranquility.

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.

I find as I grow older that I love those most whom I loved first.

Stock dealers and banking companies, by the aid of a paper system, are enriching themselves to the ruin of our country, and swaying the government by their possession of the printing presses, which their wealth commands and by any other means, not always honorable to the character of our countrymen.

The only thing a man can take beyond this lifetime is his ethics.