Make men wise, and by that very operation you make them free. Civil liberty follows as a consequence of this; no usurped power can stand against the artillery of opinion.

The virtue of a human being is the application of his capacity to the general good.

The philosophy of the wisest man that ever existed, is mainly derived from the act of introspection.

Perseverance is an active principle, and cannot continue to operate but under the influence of desire.

But the watchful care of the parent is endless. The youth is never free from the danger of grating interference.

No maxim can be more pernicious than that which would teach us to consult the temper of the times, and to tell only so much as we imagine our contemporaries will be able to bear.

If ever there was a book calculated to make a man in love with its author, this appears to me to be the book.