Vanity and pride of nations; vanity is as advantageous to a government as pride is dangerous.

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.

Happiness resides in your mind, brain, heart and tongue. Connect all four and you’ll live in bliss.

It all boils down to the music. That's what causes longevity.

I like my jokes to be built on a foundation of ideas, or at least smart observations.

To make people free is the aim of art, therefore art for me is the science of freedom.

Most women have a distaste for guns, and I am no exception.

If tolerance and kindness and acceptance and love are political, then I guess I am political.

if the right man does not come along, there are many fates far worse. One is to have the wrong man come along.

Issac Stern rule: the better your technique, the more impossible your standards.

We learn to deceive ourselves while we are trying to deceive others.