"Capacity for the nobler feelings is in most natures a very tender plant, easily killed, not only by hostile influences, but by mere want of sustenance."

"Every man who is not a fool knows that a bad government is a great evil; but that there is no greater evil than a weak government."

"The only freedom which consists in doing what one desires, is a freedom which, if not qualified by other considerations, is inconsistent with the good of society."

"The worth of a State, in the long run, is the worth of the individuals composing it."

"The government of a people by itself has a meaning and a reality, but only when the 'itself' is composed of all the people, and the 'government' is the government of all by all."