No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden.

In every country where man is free to think and to speak, difference of opinion will arise from difference of perception, and the imperfection of reason; but these differences, when permitted, as in this happy country, to purify themselves by free discussion, are but as passing clouds overspreading our land transiently, and leaving our horizon more bright and serene.

In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own.

A society that will trade a little liberty for a little order will lose both, and deserve neither.

We need a revolution every 20 years just to keep government honest.

I am not afraid of the priests. They have tried upon me all their various batteries, of pious whining, hypocritical canting, lying and slandering, without being able to give me one moment of pain.

It must be observed that our revenues are raised almost wholly on imported goods.