You should not have taken advantage of my sensibility to steal into my affections without my consent.

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.

You want to be good. All right, I can understand that. But you have to be careful who you let define your good.

In Revenge, as in life, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. In the end the guilty always fall.

Vanity is a weakness. I know this. It’s a shallow dependence on the exterior self, on how one looks instead of what one is.

Peace for any prolonged period of time is impossible. Humans have a natural thirst for chaos and war is the most readily available form of chaos.

As a man falls out of favour and his wealth declines, we discover for the first time the ridiculous aspects of his character, which were always there but which wealth and favour had concealed.

Part of being creative is not being super-duper focused.

I can't change myself. I'm Mike Tyson. I'm a regular kid from the getto striving to do something positive with myself. I happen to fight well.

Freedom is an abstract offshoot. You can't describe freedom. How can you describe it? I tried and I failed.

A good poem about failure is a success.

Men seldom understand any laws but those they feel.