And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.

The ultimate arbiter is the people of the Union.

If we can but prevent the government from wasting the labours of the people, under the pretence of taking care of them, they must become happy.

Specie [gold and silver coin] is the most perfect medium because it will preserve its own level; because, having intrinsic and universal value, it can never die in our hands, and it is the surest resource of reliance in time of war.

A free people [claim] their rights as derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate.

Trade liberty for safety or money and you'll end up with neither. Liberty, like a grain of salt, easily dissolves. The power of questioning - not simply believing - has no friends. Yet liberty depends on it.

Taste cannot be controlled by law.