In politics, as in religion, it is equally absurd to aim at making proselytes by fire and sword. Heresies in either can rarely be cured by persecution.

People sometimes attribute my success to my genius; all the genius I know anything about is hard work.

Give all the power to the many, they will oppress the few. Give all the power to the few, they will oppress the many.

When a government betrays the people by amassing too much power and becoming tyrannical, the people have no choice but to exercise their original right of self-defense — to fight the government.

One great error is that we suppose mankind more honest than they are.

I think the first duty of society is justice.

There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty, that makes human nature rise above itself, in acts of bravery and heroism.

Men often oppose a thing merely because they have had no agency in planning it, or because it may have been planned by those whom they dislike.

A nation which can prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a master, and deserves one.

Foreign influence is truly the Grecian horse to a republic. We cannot be too careful to exclude its influence.

It's not tyranny we desire; it's a just, limited, federal government.

I just planted the family vegetables yesterday. You name it, I grow it.

Facts, like telescopes and wigs for gentlemen, were a seventeenth century invention.

In a fallen world, if you demand perfection or nothing, you will always get nothing.

So to some extent he [Barack Obama] is a victim of the expectations and the high hopes that we experienced.

There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us.

If you build a cloud network, people will share.

When you want success as badly as you want the air, then you will get it. There is no other secret of success.

You know what they say about guys with big hands.

Faith comes not through pondering but through action.

I never did allow anything to keep me from my kids. They're the most important part of my life.