The only legitimate right to govern is an express grant of power from the governed.

Is one of the fairest portions of the globe to remain in a state of nature, the haunt of a few wretched savages, when it seems destined by the Creator to give support to a large population and to be the seat of civilization?

The chains of military despotism, once fastened upon a nation, ages might pass away before they could be shaken off.

To Englishmen, life is a topic, not an activity.

There is nothing more corrupting, nothing more destructive of the noblest and finest feelings of our nature, than the exercise of unlimited power.

The liberties of a people depend on their own constant attention to its preservation.

The people are the best guardians of their own rights and it is the duty of their executive to abstain from interfering in or thwarting the sacred exercise of the lawmaking functions of their government.