The very definition of tyranny is when all powers are gathered under one place.

The future and success of America is not in this Constitution, but in the laws of God upon which this Constitution is founded.

Oppressors can tyrannize only when they achieve a standing army, an enslaved press, and a disarmed populace.

Crisis is the rallying cry of the tyrant.

If our nation is ever taken over, it will be taken over from within.

The purpose of the Constitution is to restrict the majority's ability to harm a minority.

If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.

If man is not fit to govern himself, how can he be fit to govern someone else?

The operations of the federal government will be most extensive and important in times of war and danger; those of the State governments, in times of peace and security.

Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm.

Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.

I am eternally grateful for my knack of finding in great books, some of them very funny books, reason enough to feel honored to be alive, no matter what else might be going on.

I have learned to use the word impossible with the greatest caution.

Godliness, as well as the doctrine of our faith, is a mystery.

Welcome to prekindergarten! You will not die if you discover that there are more lines out there than just your own. In fact, you'll discover that you will have an advantage if you know more of them!

I saw the dead without really seeing them.

Meg, don't you think you'd make a better adjustment to life if you faced facts?" I do face facts," Meg said. They're lots easier to face than people, I can tell you.

Refined religion is aimed at realizing ethical values, including the fostering of human lives and human communities.

Creationism: God's gift to the ignorant.

Climate change could produce a lot of misery and waste without necessarily leading to large-scale armed conflict, which depends more on ideology and bad governance than on resource scarcity.

I mean, personally, I would have had no problem surviving. Come on, how hard is it to swim?