Nothing is more natural to men in office, than to look with peculiar deference towards that authority to which they owe their official existence.

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.

Time is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor. Truth is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor. You don't need anything else.

A picture tells a thousand words. But you get a thousand pictures from someone's voice.

And he will never know what it is to look up at the night sky and wish.

Erudition, like a bloodhound, is a charming thing when held firmly in leash, but it is not so attractive when turned loose upon a defenseless and unerudite public.

Success is like winning the sweepstakes or getting killed in an automobile crash. It always happens to somebody else.

I have a children's book already out and my autobiography.

For me, intuitive thinking means associative thinking; intuition causes us to introduce narrative or figurative elements into a poem before we're able to explain why those elements belong.

While conscience is our friend, all is at peace; however once it is offended, farewell to a tranquil mind.

As I understand it, a born executive is a guy who, when anything difficult or unexpected happens, yells for somebody to come and help him.

Be here. Be present. Wherever you are, be there.