The newspaper is the natural enemy of the book, as the whore is of the decent woman.

How absurd men are! They never use the liberties they have, they demand those they do not have. They have freedom of thought, they demand freedom of speech.

Language is the archives of history.

Man is the one name belonging to every nation upon earth: there is one soul and many tongues, one spirit and various sounds; every country has its own speech, but the subjects of speech are common to all.

Information can tell us everything. It has all the answers. But they are answers to questions we have not asked, and which doubtless don’t even arise.

Every man has a right to utter what he thinks truth, and every other man has a right to knock him down for it. Martyrdom is the test.

Speak and speed; the close mouth catches no flies.

The only authors whom I acknowledge as American are the journalists. They indeed are not great writers, but they speak the language of their countrymen, and make themselves heard by them. 

The gift of a common tongue is a priceless inheritance and it may well some day become the foundation of a common citizenship.

When action grows unprofitable, gather information; when information grows unprofitable, sleep.

Unexemplary words and unfounded doctrines are avoided by the noble person. Why utter them?

Do not the most moving moments of our lives find us all without words?

Speech is the mirror of the soul; as a man speaks, so is he.