We have the wolf by the ears, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other.

The good opinion of mankind, like the lever of Archimedes, with the given fulcrum, moves the world.

We are now trusting to those who are against us in position and principle, to fashion to their own form the minds and affections of our youth... This canker is eating on the vitals of our existence, and if not arrested at once, will be beyond remedy.

With respect to our State and federal governments, I do not think their relations correctly understood by foreigners. They generally suppose the former subordinate to the latter. But this is not the case. They are co-ordinate departments of one simple and integral whole.

Natural rights [are] the objects for the protection of which society is formed and municipal laws established.

Principle will, in... most... cases open the way for us to correct conclusion.

If I am to meet with a disappointment, the sooner I know it, the more of life I shall have to wear it off.