I... [am] convinced [man] has no natural right in opposition to his social duties.

To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude.

Malice will always find bad motives for good actions. - Shall we therefore never do good?

I see the necessity of sacrificing our opinions sometimes to the opinions of others for the sake of harmony.

The people are the ultimate guardians of their own liberties. In every government on earth is some trace of human weakness, some germ of corruption and degeneracy . . . Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone.

letters are not the first, but the last step in the progression from barbarism to civilisation.

Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.