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

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.

No free man shall be taken or imprisoned or dispossessed or outlawed or exiled, or in any way destroyed, nor will we go upon him, nor will we send against him except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.

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

The U.S. presidency is a Tudor monarchy plus telephones.

You have all the characteristics of a popular politician: a horrible voice, bad breeding, and a vulgar manner.

My people and I have come to an agreement that satisfies us both. They are to say what they please, and I am to do what I please.

The affairs of the world are no more than so much trickery, and a man who toils for money or honor or whatever else in deference to the wishes of others, rather than because his own desire or needs lead him to do so, will always be a fool.

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

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

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.

Natural rights is simple nonsense: natural and imprescriptible rights, rhetorical nonsense—nonsense upon stilts.

It is impossible to tell which of the two dispositions we find in men is more harmful in a republic, that which seeks to maintain an established position or that which has none but seeks to acquire it.