A government by the passions of the multitude, or, no less correctly, according to the vices, and ambitions of their leaders is a democracy.

A democracy is a volcano which conceals the fiery materials of its own destruction. These will produce an eruption and carry desolation in their way.

The known propensity of a democracy is to licentiousness which the ambitious call, and ignorant believe to be liberty.

Liberty is not to be enjoyed, indeed it cannot exist, without the habits of just subordination; it consists, not so much in removing all restraint from the orderly, as in imposing it on the violent.

The happiness of a people, and the good order and preservation of civil government, essentially depend on piety, religion, and morality.

A monarchy is a merchantman which sails well, but will sometimes strike on a rock, and go to the bottom; a republic is a raft which will never sink, but then your feet are always in the water.

[the framers of the Constitution] intended our government should be a republic, which differs more widely from a democracy than a democracy from a despotism.

No man can be a sound lawyer in this land who is not well read in the ethics of Moses and the virtues of Jesus.

The rights of conscience, of bearing arms, of changing the government, are declared to be inherent in the people.

I have heard it remarked that men are not to be reasoned out of an opinion they have not reasoned themselves into.

We are, heart and soul, friends to the freedom of the press...It is a precious pest, and a necessary mischief, and there would be no liberty without it.

Alex got angry at me because he said I didn’t understand how hard it was. And you know what? He was right. I didn’t understand. Not then.

Of all the forces in the universe, the hardest to overcome is the force of habit.

The essay is a literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything.

I really hate sitcoms on television with canned laughter and stuff. What really makes me laugh is the real-life stuff. I've got a dry sense of humor.

I try to make myself do things for other people when I'm feeling down. Like, you can call your local hospital and help out in the pediatric unit.

... that order generated without design can far outstrip plans men consciously contrive

A lot of bad behavior in singers is caused by nerves.

In many ways, the idea of resilience is a more useful concept than the idea of sustainability.

If you like a story that's totally different and won't know which way it's going... where it's go ing to end up and which way it's going to take you, then I think my work fits the bill.

If a man’s house is full of medicine bottles, we infer the man is an invalid. But if his house is full of books, we conclude he is intelligent.