When we consider how much climate contributes to the happiness of our condition, by the fine sensation it excites, and the productions it is the parent of, we have reason to value highly the accident of birth in such a one as that of Virginia.

In matters of principle, stand like a rock.

Liberty is to the collective body, what health is to every individual body. Without health no pleasure can be tasted by man; without liberty, no happiness can be enjoyed by society.

Some other natural rights... [have] not yet entered into any declaration of rights.

People generally have more feeling for canals and roads than education. However, I hope we can advance them with equal pace.

Nature intended me for the tranquil pursuits of science, by rendering them my supreme delight. But the enormities of the times in which I have lived, have forced me to take a part in resisting them, and to commit myself on the boisterous ocean of political passions.

One precedent in favor of power is stronger than a hundred against it.