The most desirable state of mankind is that which maintains general security with the smallest encroachment upon individual independence.

He that loves reading has everything within his reach.

Whenever government assumes to deliver us from the trouble of thinking for ourselves, the only consequences it produces are those of torpor and imbecility.

Revolution is engendered by an indignation with tyranny, yet is itself pregnant with tyranny.

Above all we should not forget, that government is an evil, an usurpation upon the private judgment and individual conscience of mankind.

The philosophy of the wisest man that ever existed, is mainly derived from the act of introspection.

The great model of the affection of love in human beings is the sentiment which subsists between parents and children.

Revolutions are the produce of passion, not of sober and tranquil reason.

The wise man is satisfied with nothing.

The proper method for hastening the decay of error is by teaching every man to think for himself.

To conceive that compulsion and punishment are the proper means of reformation is the sentiment of a barbarian.

It's sometimes easier to help others rather than helping yourself. The trick is to listen to your "self" as a friend. This may be the simplest change you ever make in life, with the biggest impact.

You can't counter a heroic impulse with a mundane and bourgeois response. You can counter it only with a more compelling heroic vision.

Wealth unused might as well not exist.

When it comes to climate, we can all make a big difference.

The court of last resort is no longer the Supreme Court. It's 'Nightline.'

This divorce between man and his life, the actor and his setting, is properly the feeling of absurdity.

For He (God) seems to do nothing of himself which He can possibly delegate to His creatures.

The militancy of men, through all the centuries, has drenched the world with blood. The militancy of women has harmed no human life save the lives of those who fought the battle of righteousness.

If we are in tune with Nature, all her music can find a way into the heart. When bird music is rare, their occasional songs are precious to the ear.

There is no gain so certain as that which arises from sparing what you have.