I have no ambition to govern men; it is a painful and thankless office.

I have no fear that the result of our experiment will be that men may be trusted to govern themselves without a master.

I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.

I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country.

An injured friend is the bitterest of foes.

When a man assumes a public trust he should consider himself a public property.

There is a natural aristocracy among men. The grounds of this are virtue and talents.

There is not a truth existing which I fear... or would wish unknown to the whole world.

Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.

To penetrate and dissipate these clouds of darkness, the general mind must be strengthened by education.

Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very fast.

War is an instrument entirely inefficient toward redressing wrong; and multiplies, instead of indemnifying losses.

We are not to expect to be translated from despotism to liberty in a featherbed.

We did not raise armies for glory or for conquest.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.