But every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle.

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

A free people [claim] their rights as derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate.

To the corruptions of Christianity I am indeed opposed; but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus himself.

If we cannot secure all our rights, let us secure what we can.

Whenever a man has cast a longing eye on offices, a rottenness begins in his conduct.

The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.