The thoughts that come often unsought, and, as it were, drop into the mind, are commonly the most valuable of any we have

But there is only one thing which gathers people into seditious commotion, and that is oppression

So that, in effect, religion, which should most distinguish us from beasts, and ought most peculiarly to elevate us, as rational creatures, above brutes, is that wherein men often appear most irrational, and more senseless...

Our Savior’s great rule, that we should love our neighbors as ourselves, is such a fundamental truth for the regulating of human society, that, by that alone, one might without difficulty determine all the cases...

I attribute the little I know to my not having been ashamed to ask for information, and to my rule of conversing with all descriptions of men on those topics that form their own peculiar...

When we find out an Idea, by whose Intervention we discover the Connexion of two others, this is a Revelation from God to us, by the voice of Reason.

There cannot be greater rudeness than to interrupt another in the current of his discourse.

Man… hath by nature a power …. to preserve his property – that is, his life, liberty, and estate – against the injuries and attempts of other men.

All men are liable to error; and most men are, in many points, by passion or interest, under temptation to it

If we will disbelieve everything, because we cannot certainly know all things, we shall do much what as wisely as he who would not use his legs, but sit still and perish, because he had...

What worries you, masters you.

Every man has a property in his own person. This nobody has a right to, but himself.

Practice conquers the habit of doing, without reflecting on the rule.

Parents wonder why the streams are bitter, when they themselves have poisoned the fountain.

There is frequently more to be learned from the unexpected questions of a child than the discourses of men.

Any one reflecting upon the thought he has of the delight, which any present or absent thing is apt to produce in him, has the idea we call love.

Where all is but dream, reasoning and arguments are of no use, truth and knowledge nothing.

It is easier for a tutor to command than to teach.

…but since He gave it them for their benefit and the greatest conveniences of life they were capable to draw form it, it cannot be supposed He meant it should always remain common and uncultivated....

To prejudge other men’s notions before we have looked into them is not to show their darkness but to put out our own eye

If punishment makes not the will supple it hardens the offender

There being nothing more evident than that creatures of the same species should be equal amongst one another without subordination or subjection

It is of great use to the sailor to know the length of his line, though he cannot with it fathom all the depths of the ocean.

Things of this world are in so constant a flux, that nothing remains long in the same state.

The great question (about power) is who should have it

The care of souls cannot belong to the civil magistrate

It is therefore worthwhile, to search out the bounds between opinion and knowledge; and examine by what measures, in things, whereof we have no certain knowledge, we ought to regulate our assent, and moderate our...

For law, in its true notion, is not so much the limitation, as the direction of a free and intelligent agent to his proper interest, and prescribes no farther than is for the general good...

Habits wear more constantly and with greatest force than reason, which, when we have most need of it, is seldom fairly consulted, and more rarely obeyed

It is so vital to everybody who has a stake in the downtown. It is vital to anyone who lives here. It is going to put us on the map.

I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts.

Error is none the better for being common, nor truth the worse for having lain neglected

Vague and mysterious forms of speech, and abuse of language, have so long passed for mysteries of science; and hard or misapplied words with little or no meaning have, by prescription, such a right to...

The discipline of desire is the background of character.

One unerring mark of the love of truth is not entertaining any proposition with greater assurance than the proofs it is built upon will warrant.

The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom. For in all the states of created beings capable of law, where there is no law, there is no...

Nature never makes excellent things for mean or no uses.

Logic is the anatomy of thought

To give a man full knowledge of morality, I would send him to no other book than the New Testament.

Logic is the anatomy of thought.

I have spent more than half a lifetime trying to express the tragic moment.

Education begins the gentleman, but reading, good company and reflection must finish him.

Being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions.

The Bible is one of the greatest blessings bestowed by God on the children of men.- It has God for its author; salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture for its matter.- It...

Wherever Law ends, Tyranny begins

Man… hath by nature a power…. to preserve his property – that is, his life, liberty, and estate – against the injuries and attempts of other men.

The dread of evil is a much more forcible principle of human actions than the prospect of good.

We are like chameleons, we take our hue and the color of our moral character, from those who are around us.

Our deeds disguise us. People need endless time to try on their deeds, until each knows the proper deeds for him to do. But every day, every hour, rushes by. There is no time.

It is one thing to show a man that he is in an error, and another to put him in possession of truth