Ignorance is a poor tool in a battle of wits.

To take a single step beyond the text would be to take possession of a boundless field of power.

I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be.

When sins are dear to us we are too prone to slide into them again. The act of repentance itself is often sweetened with the thought that it clears our account for a repetition of the same sin.

Laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. . . . We might as well require a man to wear the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain forever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.

Every one must act according to the dictates of his own reason, and mine tells me that civil powers alone have been given to the President of the United States, and no authority to direct the religious exercises of his constituents.

I... [am] convinced [man] has no natural right in opposition to his social duties.