A page digested is better than a volume hurriedly read..

And to say that society ought to be governed by the opinion of the wisest and best, though true, is useless. Whose opinion is to decide who are the w….

The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out..

A good constitution is infinitely better than the best despot..

Men are never so likely to settle a question rightly as when they discuss it freely..

The hearts of men are their books; events are their tutors; great actions are their eloquence..

I don't mind your thinking slowly; I mind your publishing faster than you think..

Our rulers will best promote the improvement of the nation by strictly confining themselves to their own legitimate duties, by leaving capital to fin….

Our estimate of a character always depends much on the manner in which that character affects our own interests and passions..

Man is so inconsistent a creature that it is impossible to reason from his beliefs to his conduct, or from one part of his belief to another..

Generalization is necessary to the advancement of knowledge; but particularly is indispensable to the creations of the imagination. In proportion as ….

And how can man die better than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his Gods?.

Books are becoming everything to me. If I had at this moment any choice in life, I would bury myself in one of those immense libraries...and never pa….

People crushed by law have no hopes but from power. If laws are their enemies, they will be enemies to laws..

Our judgment ripens; our imagination decays. We cannot at once enjoy the flowers of the Spring of life and the fruits of its Autumn..

The Church is the handmaid of tyranny and the steady enemy of liberty..

If anybody would make me the greatest king that ever lived, with palaces, and gardens and fine dinners, and wine, and coaches, and beautiful clothes,….

People who take no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote desce….

I would rather be poor in a cottage full of books than a king without the desire to read..

History, is made up of the bad actions of extraordinary men and woman. All the most noted destroyers and deceivers of our species, all the founders o….

A government cannot be wrong in punishing fraud or force, but it is almost certain to be wrong if, abandoning its legitimate function, it tells priva….