James Fenimore Cooper

All that a good government aims at...is to add no unnecessary and artificial aid to the force of its own read more

All that a good government aims at...is to add no unnecessary and artificial aid to the force of its own unavoidable consequences, and to abstain from fortifying and accumulating social inequality as a means of increasing political inequalities.

...Although the political liberty of this country is greater than that of nearly every other civilized nation, its personal liberty read more

...Although the political liberty of this country is greater than that of nearly every other civilized nation, its personal liberty is said to be less. In other words, men are thought to be more under the control of extra-legal authorities, and to defer more to those around them, in pursuing even their lawful and innocent occupations, than in almost every other country.

All greatness of character is dependent on individuality. The man who has no other existence than that which he partakes read more

All greatness of character is dependent on individuality. The man who has no other existence than that which he partakes in common with all around him, will never have any other than an existence of mediocrity.

The tendency of democracies is, in all things, to mediocrity, since the tastes, knowledge, and principles of the majority form read more

The tendency of democracies is, in all things, to mediocrity, since the tastes, knowledge, and principles of the majority form the tribunal of appeal.

Friendship that flows from the heart cannot be frozen by adversity, as the water that flows from the spring cannot read more

Friendship that flows from the heart cannot be frozen by adversity, as the water that flows from the spring cannot congeal in winter.