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.

The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.

The policy of the American government is to leave their citizens free, neither restraining nor aiding them in their pursuits.

When the people are afraid of the government, that's tyranny. But when the government is afraid of the people, that's liberty.

If once the people become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, Judges and Governors, shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature, in spite of individual exceptions.

Laws ... proportionate and mild should never be dispensed with. Let mercy be the character of the law-giver, but let the judge be a mere machine.

Question boldly even the existence of God.