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.

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

I simply wanted a kiss. I was a freshman girl who had never been kissed. Never. But I liked the boy, he liked me, and I was going to kiss him. That's the story, the whole story, right there.

It was a miserable thing, to be responsible for breaking your own heart.

I don't give in, I don't give up, I don't take no for an answer.

What was the first cat that talked a human into putting a cat door in?

In the second stage we stop thought for limited periods of time.

Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude. America will never forget their sacrifices.

Sometimes love isn't fireworks. Sometimes, love just comes softly.

It's like everyone I have dinner with, I'm having an affair with. Who was it I met the other day? Minnie Driver! She seems charming, but that's the only time I've met her.

The sucker's trap is when you focus on what you know and what others don't know, rather than the reverse.

I'm about as far from being a flag-waver - you won't find any American flag pins in my drawer - as someone can be.