"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."

"To form a moderate government, it is necessary to combine the powers, to regulate them, to temper them, to set them in motion; to give, so to speak, a ballast to one, in order to enable it to resist a…"

"The custom of the most civilized countries is to use the strongest and most active for the public service, and to put the weak and idle in the houses of correction."

"The history of commerce is that of the communication of people."

"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets, and steal loaves of bread."