The great cause which divides our countries is not to be decided by individual animosities. The harmony of private societies cannot weaken national efforts.

History, in general, only informs us of what bad government is.

Can one generation bind another, and all others, in succession forever? I think not. The Creator has made the earth for the living, not the dead. Rights and powers can only belong to persons, not to things, not to mere matter endowed with will...Nothing is unchangeable but the inherent and unalienable rights of man.

I have recently been examining all the known superstitions of the world and do not find in our particular superstition [Christianity] one redeeming feature.

Exercise and application produce order in our affairs, health of body, cheerfulness of mind, and these make us precious to our friends

[T]he true key for the construction of everything doubtful in a law is the intention of the law-makers. This is most safely gathered from the words, but may be sought also in extraneous circumstances provided they do not contradict the express words of the law.

Where thought is free in its range, we need never fear to hazard what is good in itself.