It is the nature of all greatness not to be exact.
Justice is itself the great standing policy of civil society; and any eminent departure from it, under any circumstances, lies under the suspicion of being no policy at all.
Laws, like houses, lean on one another.
Liberty must be limited in order to be possessed.
Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny.
A State without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation.
All government, indeed every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue, and every prudent act, is founded on compromise and barter.
All human laws are, properly speaking, only declaratory; they have no power over the substance of original justice.
A disposition to preserve, and an ability to improve, taken together, would be my standard of a statesman.
All that's necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing.
Ambition can creep as well as soar.
Applause is the spur of noble minds, the end and aim of weak ones.
A spirit of innovation is generally the result of a selfish temper and confined views. People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors.
Beauty in distress is much the most affecting beauty.
Beauty is the promise of happiness.