No person that has enjoyed the sweets of liberty can be insensible of its infinite value, or can reflect on its reverse without horror and detestation

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.

Memories rob us of the present.

I found that the more truthful and vulnerable I was, the more empowering it was for me.

There have always been jokes all over our songs; I originally started writing lyrics to make my friends crack a smile, which is difficult.

I've always said, I prefer the opera to the soap - those extreme characters and circumstances.

It's real easy to manufacture what you think the people want to hear. But that's not very honest.

Every people have gods to suit their circumstances.

[The public lands represent] in a sense, the breathing space of the nation.

Are you searching for the river of your soul? Then come out of your prison. Leave the stream and join the river that flows into the ocean.

My parents wished peace upon their firstborn child.