Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice, without constraint.

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.

Don’t dwell too much on the past. The lessons are useful for the present and a preparation for the future. Move on!

Faith is what someone knows to be true, whether they believe it or not.

All things but one you can restore; the heart you get returns no more.

Versailles was a gulf into which the labor of France poured its earnings; and it was never full.

Payday at my house is like the Academy Awards. My wife says: May I have the envelope please.

It costs something to be a true Christian. It will cost us our sins, our self-righteousn ess, our ease and our worldliness.

You can sum up the game of baseball in one word: 'You never know.'

The chess player who develops the ability to play two dozen boards at a time will benefit from learning to compress his or her analysis into less time.

So all the rest is O.K., but fame is a hollow ground, isn't it? It's an empty kind of thing.

A girl can't analyze marriage, and a woman dare not.