I hate false words, and seek with care, difficulty, and moroseness, those that fit the thing.

He who brings ridicule to bear against truth finds in his hand a blade without a hilt. The most sparkling and pointed flame of wit flickers and expires against the incombustible walls of her sanctuary.

Merit has rarely risen of itself, but a pebble or a twig is often quite sufficient for it to spring from to the highest ascent. There is usually some baseness before there is any elevation.

I would recommend a free commerce both of matter and mind. I would let men enter their own churches with the same freedom as their own houses; and I would do it without a homily or graciousness or favor, for tyranny itself is to me a word less odious than toleration.

Next in criminality to him who violates the laws of his country, is he who violates the language.

There is no easy path leading out of life, and few are the easy ones that lie within it.

Hope is the mother of faith.