I can scarcely contemplate a more incalculable evil than the breaking of the Union into two or more parts.

An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens . . . There has never been a moment of my life in which I should have relinquished for it the enjoyments of my family, my farm, my friends and books.

Our part is to pursue with steadiness what is right, turning neither to right nor left for the intrigues or popular delusions of the day, assured that the public approbation will in the end be with us.

I endeavor to keep their attention fixed on the main objects of all science, the freedom & happiness of man.

So, ask the travelled inhabitant of any nation, in what country on earth would you rather live? — Certainly, in my own, where are all my friends, my relations, and the earliest and sweetest affections and recollections of my life. Which would be your second choice? France.

The evils of war are great in their endurance, and have a long reckoning for ages to come.

What we learn to do, we learn by doing.