Any system of religion that has anything in it that shocks the mind of a child, cannot be true.

Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property... Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of the use of them.

Of all the tyrannies that effect mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst; every other species of tyranny is limited to the world we live in; but this attempts to stride beyond the grave, and seeks to pursue us into eternity.

When authors and critics talk of the sublime, they see not how nearly it borders on the ridiculous.

The graceful pride of truth knows no extremes, and preserves, in every latitude of life, the right-angled character of man.

The mind, in discovering truths, acts in the same manner as it acts through the eye in discovering objects; when once any object has been seen, it is impossible to put the mind back to the same condition it was in before it saw it.

A man may write himself out of reputation when nobody else can do it.