Countries are well cultivated, not as they are fertile, but as they are free.

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.

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

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.

I've had people tell me to get over it. I politely tell them, 'How about if I chop off your finger and see if it grows back?

Interpretation is the revenge of the intellectual upon art.

What's great about our leadership is they welcome other ideas.

Government, in the last analysis, is organized opinion. Where there is little or no public opinion, there is likely to be bad government.

The important message I heard about working out and what I want to share is that you create your own opportunities and your own limitations.

You are either going forward or you are not.

I'm always pleased that I managed to stay out of jail throughout my tenure in Chicago.

Be reckless in your intensities.

A wah-wah is important as well. I love it; it makes the guitar scream.

I can go into restaurants and a whole table will get up and clap if they recognize me, because they love Fox News. Other places - or even the same place - people will turn the other way.