There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty, that makes human nature rise above itself, in acts of bravery and heroism.

Unless your government is respectable, foreigners will invade your rights; and to maintain tranquillity, it must be respectable - even to observe neutrality, you must have a strong government.

When the sword is once drawn, the passions of men observe no bounds of moderation.

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

Learn to think continentally.

Even to observe neutrality you must have a strong government.

Men are rather reasoning than reasonable animals, for the most part governed by the impulse of passion.

Nobody expects to trust his body overmuch after the age of fifty.

It's not tyranny we desire; it's a just, limited, federal government.

The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of the divinity itself; and can never be erased.

The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of the divinity itself; and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power.

There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty, that makes human nature rise above itself, in acts of bravery and heroism.

I think the first duty of society is justice.

In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.

The voice of the people has been said to be the voice of God; and, however generally this maxim has been quoted and believed, it is not true to fact. The people are turbulent and changing, they seldom judge or determine right.