Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
If I am to meet with a disappointment, the sooner I know it, the more of life I shall have to wear it off.
I think our governments will remain virtuous for many centuries; as long as they are chiefly agricultural.
the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.
Though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will, to be rightful, must be reasonable.
The benefit of even limited monopolies is too doubtful, to be opposed to that of their general suppression.
The selfish spirit of commerce, which knows no country, and feels no passion or principle but that of gain.
I join you therefore in branding as cowardly the idea that the human mind is incapable of further advances.
I am not among those who fear the people. They, and not the rich, are our dependence for continued freedom.
History has informed us that bodies of men as well as individuals are susceptible of the spirit of tyranny.
I endeavor to keep their attention fixed on the main objects of all science, the freedom & happiness of man.
I see the necessity of sacrificing our opinions sometimes to the opinions of others for the sake of harmony.
It would not be for the public good to have [a majority in Congress of one party] greater [than] two to one.
Bank-paper must be suppressed, and the circulating medium must be restored to the nation to whom it belongs.
I do not know whether you are fond of chemical reading. There are some things in this science worth reading.
Self-interest, or rather self-love, or egoism, has been more plausibly substituted as the basis of morality.
Bodily decay is gloomy in prospect, but of all human contemplations the most abhorrent is body without mind.
I shall need, too, the favor of that Being in whose hands we are, who led our forefathers, as Israel of old.
I cannot live without books: but fewer will suffice where amusement, and not use, is the only future object.
I value peace, and I should unwillingly see any event take place which would render war a necessary resource.
Never fear the want of business. A man who qualifies himself well for his calling, never fails of employment.
Congress has not unlimited powers to provide for the general welfare, but only those specifically enumerated.
An hereditary aristocracy... will change the form of our governments from the best to the worst in the world.
Difficulties indeed sometimes arise; but common sense and honest intentions will generally steer through them.
To unequal privileges among members of the same society the spirit of our nation is, with one accord, adverse.
Our civil rights have no dependence upon our religious opinions more than our opinions in physics or geometry.
preach, my dear Sir, a crusade against ignorance; establish & improve the law for educating the common people.
I have ever deemed it more honorable and more profitable, too, to set a good example than to follow a bad one.
Of all the cankers of human happiness none corrodes with so silent, yet so baneful an influence, as indolence.
I never before knew the full value of trees. Under them I breakfast, dine, write, read and receive my company.
Wisdom I know is social. She seeks her fellows. But Beauty is jealous, and illy bears the presence of a rival.
I find the pain of a little censure, even when it is unfounded, is more acute than the pleasure of much praise.
[A]lthough a republican government is slow to move, yet when once in motion, its momentum becomes irresistible.
The world is indebted for all triumphs which have been gained by reason and humanity over error and oppression.
The Bible is the cornerstone of liberty ... students perusal of the sacred volume will make us better citizens.
No government should be without critics. If its intentions are good then it has nothing to fear from criticism.
An acre of the best ground for hemp, is to be selected and sewn in hemp and be kept for a permanent hemp patch.
A nation, as a society, forms a moral person, and every member of it is personally responsible for his society.
If ever this vast country is brought under a single government, it will be one of the most extensive corruption.
Without health there is no happiness. An attention to health, then, should take the place of every other object.
Agreeable society is the first essential in constituting the happiness and of course the value of our existence.
Confidence is everywhere the parent of despotism. Free government is founded in jealousy, and not in confidence.
If your letters are as long as the bible, they will appear short to me. Only let them be brim full of affection.
No generation has a right to contract debts greater than can be paid off during the course of its own existence.
If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed.
For a people who are free, and who mean to remain so, a well-organized and armed militia is their best security.
It is my disposition to maintain peace until its condition shall be made less tolerable than that of war itself.
I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be.
When right, I shall often be thought wrong by those whose positions will not command a view of the whole ground.
the qualifications for self-government in society are not innate. they are the result of habit and long training.
The moment a person forms a theory, his imagination sees in every object only the traits which favor that theory.