A nation may lose its liberties in a day and not miss them in a century.

It is necessary from the very nature of things that power should be a check to power.

The deterioration of every government begins with the decay of the principles on which it was founded.

We receive three educations, one from our parents, one from our school-masters, and one from the world. The third contradicts all that the first two teach us.

There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice.

Every man who has power is impelled to abuse it.

In the state of nature... all men are born equal, but they cannot continue in this equality. Society makes them lose it, and they recover it only by the protection of the law.

For a country, everything will be lost when the jobs of an economist and a banker become highly respected professions.

Liberty... is there only when there is no abuse of power.

Knowledge humanizes mankind, and reason inclines to mildness; but prejudices eradicate every tender disposition.

Democracy is corrupted not only when the spirit of equality is corrupted, but likewise when they fall into a spirit of extreme equality.

It is almost impossible to carry the torch of truth through a crowd without singeing somebody's beard.

Love is not jealous.

Here we stand between two eternities of darkness. What are we to do with this glory while it is still ours?

Pure truth is for God alone.

All change is loss, and all loss must be mourned.

I can't write. I would love to. I don't really have an interest in it, to be honest. I'll leave that to my fiance.

Men not only don't get what's important about what women are capable of, but in fact they fear it, and envy it, and want to throw stones at it, because it's the thing they can't have.

My unhappiness protects me from life.

Everybody sacrifices something in an attempt to reach what they think society wants.

Nothing is so good it lasts eternally. Perfect situations must go wrong. But this has never yet prevented me wanting far too much for far too long.