"The people are extremely fickle, and if they are not governed by strict laws, they will soon fall into anarchy."

"A nation may lose its liberties in a day and not miss them in a century."

"If a republic is small, it is destroyed by a foreign force; if it is large, it is ruined by an internal imperfection."

"The severity of punishments is more dangerous to liberty than the state of nature itself."

"When the savages of Louisiana are desirous of fruit, they cut the tree to the root, and gather the fruit. This is an emblem of despotic government."