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

I am mortified to be told that, in the United States of America, the sale of a book can become a subject of inquiry, and of criminal inquiry too.

Of the various executive abilities, no one excited more anxious concern than that of placing the interests of our fellow-citizens in the hands of honest men, with understanding sufficient for their stations. No duty is at the same time more difficult to fulfil. The knowledge of character possessed by a single individual is of necessity limited. To seek out the best through the whole Union, we must resort to the information which from the best of men, acting disinterestedly and with the purest motives, is sometimes incorrect.

Let your gun therefore be your constant companion of your walks.

To penetrate and dissipate these clouds of darkness, the general mind must be strengthened by education.

The persons and property of our citizens are entitled to the protection of our government in all places where they may lawfully go.

Perseverance in object, though not by the most direct way, is often more laudable than perpetual changes, as often as the object shifts light.