There is no method by which men can be both free and equal.

Let him who desires peace prepare for war.

The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure it is right.

It is a certain sign of a wise government and proceeding, when it can hold men’s hearts by hopes, when it cannot by satisfaction.

The first requirement of a statesman is that he be dull.

I work for a government I despise for ends I think criminal.

I am invariably of the politics of the people at whose table I sit, or beneath whose roof I sleep.

No human life, not even the life of a hermit, is possible without a world which directly or indirectly testifies to the presence of other human beings.

Do that which consists in taking no action, and order will prevail.

To be turned from one’s course by men’s opinions, by blame, and by misrepresentation shows a man unfit to hold office.

People revere the Constitution yet know so little about it—and that goes for some of my fellow senators.

Written laws are like spiderwebs: they will catch, it is true, the weak and poor but would be torn in pieces by the rich and powerful.

An appeal to the reason of the people has never been known to fail in the long run.