The happiest hours of my life have been spent in the flow of affection among friends.

This I hope will be the age of experiments in government, and that their basis will be founded in principles of honesty, not of mere force.

The division into whig and tory is founded in the nature of men; the weakly and nerveless, the rich and the corrupt, seeing more safety and accessibility in a strong executive; the healthy, firm, and virtuous, feeling confidence in their physical and moral resources, and willing to part with only so much power as is necessary for their good government; and, therefore, to retain the rest in the hands of the many, the division will substantially be into Whig and Tory.

The people cannot be all, and always well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive.

among the values of classical learning I estimate the Luxury of reading the Greek & Roman authors in all the beauties of their originals ... I think myself more indebted to my father for this, than for all the other luxuries his cares and affections have placed within my reach.

The patient, treated on the fashionable theory, sometimes gets well in spite of the medicine.

No government ought to be without censors; and where the press is free no one ever will.