I do not find in orthodox Christianity one redeeming feature.

The equal rights of man and the happiness of every individual are now acknowledged to be the only legitimate objects of government.

My affections were first for my own country, then, generally, for all mankind

Those who would trade safety for freedom deserve neither.

We abhor the follies of war, and are not untried in its distresses and calamities. Unmeddling with the affairs of other nations, we had hoped that our distance and our dispositions would have left us free, in the example and indulgence of peace with all the world.

The people are not always well-informed, but is better that they have misconceptions that make them restless than that they be lethargic-for lethargy in the people means death for republics.

The late rebellion in Massachusetts has given more alarm than I think it should have done. Calculate that one rebellion in thirteen states in the course of eleven years, is but one for each state in a century and a half. No country should be so long without one. Nor will any degree of power in the hands of government prevent insurrections.