The spirit of revolution, the spirit of insurrection, is a spirit radically opposed to liberty.

I have been ever of the opinion that revolutions are not to be evaded.

Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system.

Revolution can never be forecast; it cannot be foretold; it comes of itself. Revolution is brewing and is bound to flare up.

Governments are not overthrown by the poor, who have no power, but by the rich—when they are insulted by their inferiors and cannot obtain justice.

All civilization has from time to time become a thin crust over a volcano of revolution.

This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it.

Insurrection of thought always precedes insurrection of arms.

Revolutionaries are greater sticklers for formality than conservatives.