A great writer is, so to speak, a second government in his country. And for that reason no regime has read more

A great writer is, so to speak, a second government in his country. And for that reason no regime has ever loved great writers, only minor ones.

Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.

Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.

Nothing's more dull and negligent
Than an old, lazy government,
That knows no interest of state,
read more

Nothing's more dull and negligent
Than an old, lazy government,
That knows no interest of state,
But such as serves a present strait.

"The liberties of our country, the freedoms of our civil Constitution are worth defending at all hazards; it is our read more

"The liberties of our country, the freedoms of our civil Constitution are worth defending at all hazards; it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors. They purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood. It will bring a mark of everlasting infamy on the present generation – enlightened as it is – if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of designing men." -Samuel Adams

Despotism tempered by assassination, that is our Magna Carta.
[Fr., Le despotisme tempere par l'assassinat, c'est notre magna
read more

Despotism tempered by assassination, that is our Magna Carta.
[Fr., Le despotisme tempere par l'assassinat, c'est notre magna
charta.]

When I am abroad, I always make it a rule to never criticize or attack the government of my own read more

When I am abroad, I always make it a rule to never criticize or attack the government of my own country. I make up for lost time when I come home.

The only justifiable purpose of political institutions is to ensure the unhindered development of the individual.

The only justifiable purpose of political institutions is to ensure the unhindered development of the individual.

The single most exciting thing you encounter in government is competence, because it's so rare.

The single most exciting thing you encounter in government is competence, because it's so rare.

Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. read more

Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.