It is my disposition to maintain peace until its condition shall be made less tolerable than that of war itself.

An enemy generally says and believes what he wishes.

The further the departure from direct and constant control by the citizens, the less has the government of the ingredient of republicanism.

Those who don’t read the newspapers are better off than those who do insofar as those who know nothing are better off than those whose heads are filled with half-truths and lies.

The best hemp and the best tobacco grow on the same kind of soil. The former article is of the first necessity to the wealth and protection of the country. The latter, never useful.

The art of reasoning becomes of first importance. In this line antiquity has left us the finest models for imitation; I should consider the speeches of Livy, Sallust, and Tacitus, as pre-eminent specimens of logic, taste, and that sententious brevity which, using not a word to spare, leaves not a moment for inattention to the hearer. Amplification is the vice of modern oratory.

The man who stops advertising to save money is like the man who stops the clock to save time.