Never suppose that in any possible situation or under any circumstances that it is best for you to do a dishonorable thing however slightly so it may appear to you... Encourage all your virtuous dispositions, and exercise them whenever an opportunity arises, being assured that they will gain strength by exercise ... and that exercise will make them habitual.

We prefer war in all cases to tribute under any form and to any people whatever.

The clergy believe that any power confided in me will be exerted in opposition to their schemes, and they believe rightly.

I recoil with horror at the ferociousness of man. Will nations never devise a more rational umpire of differences than force? Are there no means of coercing injustice more gratifying to our nature than a waste of the blood of thousands and of the labor of millions of our fellow creatures?

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

The Declaration of Independence . . . [is the] declaratory charter of our rights, and the rights of man.

The way to silence religious disputes is to take no notice of them.