Love is blind.

He was a true, a perfect gentle-knight.

I go to the chair of government with feelings not unlike those of a culprit who is going to the place of his execution.

The tumultuous populace of large cities are ever to be dreaded. Their indiscriminate violence prostrates for the time all public authority, and its consequences are sometimes extensive and terrible.

To the efficacy and permanency of your union a government for the whole is indispensable.

We have probably had too good an opinion of human nature in forming our confederation.

Remember, officers and soldiers, that you are fighting for the blessings of liberty.

By the all-powerful dispensations of Providence I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation; for I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me yet escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every side of me!

There is no restraining men’s tongues or pens when charged with a little vanity.

Citizens by birth or choice of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations.

Example, whether it be good or bad, has a powerful influence.

If we are wise, let us prepare for the worst.

Have the strength to be an honest person.

A government is like fire, a handy servant, but a dangerous master.

Father I cannot tell a lie. I did it with my little hatchet.

I earnestly pray that the Omnipotent Being who has not deserted the cause of America in the hour of its extremest hazard, will never yield so fair a heritage of freedom a prey to ‘Anarchy’ or ‘Despotism’.

It follows then as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, and with it, everything honorable and glorious.

One’s god dictates the kind of law one implements and also controls the application and development of that law over time. Given enough time, all non-Christian systems of law self-destruct in a fit of tyranny.

More permanent and genuine happiness is to be found in the sequestered walks of connubial life than in the giddy rounds of promiscuous pleasure.

A good moral character is the first essential in a man, and that the habits contracted at your age are generally indelible, and your conduct here may stamp your character through life. It is therefore highly important that you should endeavour not only to be learned but virtuous.

Government is not reason and it is not eloquence. It is a force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.

No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the affairs of men, more than the people of the United States. Every step, by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency.

I must assure you in particular that I take in the kindest part the promise you make of presenting your prayers at the throne of grace for me.

I receive reproof when reproof is due, because no person can be readier to accuse me, than I am to acknowledge an error, when I have committed it.

Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind.

The foundation of a great Empire is laid, and I please myself with a persuasion, that Providence will not leave its work imperfect.

When we assumed the soldier, we did not lay aside the citizen.

Observe good faith and justice towards all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all.

We must take human nature as we find it, perfection falls not to the share of mortals.

I cannot tell a lie. I cut down the cherry tree.

But if the laws are to be so trampled upon with impunity, and a minority is to dictate to the majority, there is an end put at one stroke to republican government, and nothing but anarchy and confusion is to be expected thereafter.

All Freemasonry should be disbanded in America because our organization has been infiltrated by the Illuminati and they have bad intention for America and the World.

Oh, eternal and everlasting God, direct my thoughts, words and work. Wash away my sins in the immaculate blood of the Lamb and purge my heart by Thy Holy Spirit. Daily, frame me more and more in the likeness of Thy son, Jesus Christ, that living in Thy fear, and dying in Thy favor, I may in thy appointed time obtain the resurrection of the justified unto eternal life. Bless, O Lord, the whole race of mankind and let the world be filled with the knowledge of Thee and Thy son, Jesus Christ.

What students would learn in American schools above all is the religion of Jesus Christ.

Every man thinks God is on his side. The rich and powerful know he is. Jean Anouilh, French dramatist and playwright.

Creationists make it sound like a ‘theory’ is something you dreamt up after being drunk all night. Isaac Asimov, Russian-born American author.

Being Set at meat Scratch not, neither Spit, Cough, or blow your Nose except there’s a Necessity for it.

Wherein you reprove another be unblameable yourself; for example is more prevalent than precepts.

Let your conversation be without malice or envy, for it is a sign of a tractable and commendable nature; and in all cases of passion admit reason to govern.

Much was to be done by prudence, much by conciliation, much by firmness.

My observation is that whenever one person is found adequate to the discharge of a duty… it is worse executed by two persons, and scarcely done at all if three or more are employed therein.

There can be no greater error than to expect, or calculate, upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard.

Religion is as necessary to reason as reason is to religion. The one cannot exist without the other. A reasoning being would lose his reason, in attempting to account for the great phenomena of nature, had he not a Supreme Being to refer to; and well has it been said, that if there had been no God, mankind would have been obliged to imagine one.

I shall make it the most agreeable part of my duty to study merit, and reward the brave and deserving.

The consciousness of having discharged that duty which we owe to our country is superior to all other considerations.

It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliance with any portion of the foreign world.

A people… who are possessed of the spirit of commerce, who see and who will pursue their advantages may achieve almost anything.

As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is, to use it as sparingly as possible; avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it; avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of peace to discharge the debts, which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burthen, which we ourselves ought to bear.

Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today.

Overgrown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty, and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty.

Bad seed is a robbery of the worst kind: for your pocket-book not only suffers by it, but your preparations are lost and a season passes away unimproved.

If we mean to support the liberty and independence which have cost us so much blood and treasure to establish, we must drive far away the demon of party spirit and local reproach.

Let your heart feel for the afflictions and distress of everyone.

No punishment, in my opinion, is to great, for the man who can build his greatness upon his country’s ruin.

Do not let anyone claim tribute of American patriotism if they even attempt to remove religion from politics.

The finite mind of man can never grasp the mysteries of the infinite. It is the highest wisdom, as it is our great happiness, to accept our limitations, to use what we have, and leave the rest to God.

The power under the Constitution will always be in the people.

There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the government and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This within certain limits is probably true.

The jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government.

I anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat in which I promise myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws under a free government, the ever-favorite object of my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and danger.

The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established government.

There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet the enemy.

Anything will give up its secrets if you love it enough. Not only have I found that when I talk to the little flower or to the little peanut they will give up their secrets, but I have found that when I silently commune with people they give up their secrets also—if you love them enough.

Religion is as necessary to reason as reason is to religion. The one cannot exist without the other.

It is impossible to account for the creation of the universe, without the agency of a Supreme Being. It is impossible to govern the universe without the aid of a Supreme Being. It is impossible to reason without arriving at a Supreme Being.

The best and only safe road to honor, glory, and the true dignity is justice.

Make sure you are doing what God wants you to do-then do it with all your strength.

I had rather be on my farm than be emperor of the world.

Of Congress, “party disputes and personal quarrels are the great business of the day whilst the momentous concerns of an empire…are but secondary considerations,” that “business of a trifling nature and personal concernment withdraws their attention from matters of great national moment.

Decision making, like coffee, needs a cooling process.

One of the expedients of party to acquire influence, within particular districts, is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts.

Individuals entering into society, must give up a share of liberty to preserve the rest.

My brave fellows, you have done all I asked you to do, and more than can be reasonably expected; but your country is at stake, your wives, your houses and all that you hold dear. You have worn yourselves out with fatigues and hardships, but we know not how to spare you. If you will consent to stay one month longer, you will render that service to the cause of liberty, and to your country, which you probably can never do under any other circumstances.

The right wing, where I stood, was exposed to and received all the enemy’s fire … I heard the bullets whistle, and, believe me, there is something charming in the sound.

Three things prompt men to a regular discharge of their duty in time of action: natural bravery, hope of reward, and fear of punishment.

Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest.

Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principles.

It is a much easier and less distressing thing to draw remonstrances in a comfortable room by a good fireside than to occupy a cold bleak hill and sleep under frost and snow without clothes or blankets.

Of all the animosities which have existed among mankind, those which are caused by a difference of sentiments in religion appear to be the most inveterate and distressing, and ought most to be deprecated.

The foundation of our Empire was not laid in the gloomy age of Ignorance and Superstition, but at an Epoch when the rights of mankind were better understood and more clearly defined, than at any former period, the researches of the human mind, after social happiness, have been carried to a great extent, the Treasures of knowledge, acquired by the labours of Philosophers, Sages and Legislatures, through a long succession of years, are laid open for our use, and their collected wisdom may be happily applied in the Establishment of our forms of Government.

Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theatre of Action.

Every post is honorable in which a man can serve his country.

In politics as in philosophy, my tenets are few and simple. The leading one of which, and indeed that which embraces most others, is to be honest and just ourselves and to exact it from others, meddling as little as possible in their affairs where our own are not involved. If this maxim was generally adopted, wars would cease and our swords would soon be converted into reap hooks and our harvests be more peaceful, abundant, and happy.

The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries, which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of Public Liberty.

The time is near at hand which must determine whether Americans are to be free men or slaves.

Nothing can be more hurtful to the service, than the neglect of discipline; for that discipline, more than numbers, gives one army the superiority over another.

Let your Discourse with Men of Business be Short and Comprehensive.

To contract new debts is not the way to pay old ones.

Strive not with your superiors in argument, but always submit your judgment to others with modesty.

Those who have committed no faults want no pardon. We are only defending what we deem our indisputable rights.

Adhere to your purpose and you will soon feel as well as you ever did. On the contrary, if you falter, and give up, you will lose the power of keeping any resolution, and will regret it all your life.

The future of this nation depends on the Christian training of our youth.

However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterward the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.

It is easy to make acquaintances, but very difficult to shake them off, however irksome and unprofitable they are found, after we have once committed ourselves to them.

Nothing is a greater stranger to my breast, or a sin that my soul more abhors, than that black and detestable one, ingratitude.

There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet the enemy.

When we assumed the Soldier, we did not lay aside the Citizen.

The great mass of our Citizens require only to understand matters rightly, to form right decisions.

It is well, I die hard, but I am not afraid to go.

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

I this day declare with the utmost sincerity, I do not think my self equal to the Command I ⟨am⟩ honoured with.

I am now Imbarkd on a tempestuous Ocean from whence, perhaps, no friendly harbour is to be found.

Speak not evil of the absent, for it is unjust.

A bad war is fought with a good mind.

No morn ever dawned more favorable than ours did; and no day was every more clouded than the present! Wisdom, and good examples are necessary at this time to rescue the political machine from the impending storm.

No taxes can be devised which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant.

I wish from my soul that the legislature of this State could see a policy of a gradual Abolition of Slavery.

Persuaded that if ever a crisis should arise to call forth the good sense and spirit of the People, no deficiency in either, will be found.

Love is a mighty pretty thing; but like all other delicious things, it is cloying; and when the first transports of the passion begins to subside, which it assuredly will do, and yield, oftentimes too late, to more sober reflections, it serves to evince, that love is too dainty a food to live upon alone, and ought not to be considered farther than as a necessary ingredient for that matrimonial happiness which results from a combination of causes.

I heard the bullets whistle, and, believe me, there is something charming in the sound.

Make sure you are doing what God wants you to do – then do it with all your strength.

The people must remain ever vigilant against tyrants masquerading as public servants.

The value of liberty was thus enhanced in our estimation by the difficulty of its attainment, and the worth of characters appreciated by the trial of adversity.

Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today.

Some day, following the example of the United States of America, there will be a United States of Europe.

The time is near at hand which must determine whether Americans are to be free men or slaves.

It is impossible to reason without arriving at a Supreme Being.

War – An act of violence whose object is to constrain the enemy, to accomplish our will.

Mankind, when left to themselves, are unfit for their own government.

To persevere in one’s duty, and be silent is the best answer to calumny.

The turning points of lives are not the great moments. The real crises are often concealed in occurrences so trivial in appearance that they pass unobserved.

I conceive a knowledge of books is the basis upon which other knowledge is to be built.

Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself.

It is impossible to govern the world without God. It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the Providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits and humbly implore his protection and favor.

As Mankind becomes more liberal, they will be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protections of civil government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality.

Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

Where are our Men of Abilities? Why do they not come forth to save their Country?

To encourage literature and the arts is a duty which every good citizen owes to his country.

Our country’s honor calls upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion; and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world.

Speak not injurious words, neither in jest nor earnest; scoff at none although they give occasion.

The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered… deeply, …finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.

It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.

The constitution vests the power of declaring war in Congress; therefore, no offensive expedition of importance can be undertaken until after they have deliberated upon the subject and authorized such a measure.

A man’s intentions should be allowed in some respects to plead for his actions.

There is a Destiny which has the control of our actions, not to be resisted by the strongest efforts of Human Nature.

I shall not be deprived … of a comfort in the worst event, if I retain a consciousness of having acted to the best of my judgment.

Let your discourse with men of business be short and comprehensive.

The Constitution is the guide which I never will abandon.

If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known, that we are at all times ready for war.

I will only say that I have, with good intentions, contributed towards the organization and administration of the government the best exertions of which a very fallible judgment was capable.

With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels, and joint efforts of common dangers, sufferings, and successes.

Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair; the rest is in the hands of God.

A slender acquaintance with the world must convince every man that actions, not words, are the true criterion of the attachment of friends.

To form a new Government, requires infinite care, and unbounded attention, for if the foundation is badly laid, the superstructure must be bad.

We should not look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dearly bought experience.

Experience teaches us that it is much easier to prevent an enemy from posting themselves than it is to dislodge them after they have got possession.

We must consult our means rather than our wishes.

Let us therefore animate and encourage each other, and show the whole world that a Freeman, contending for liberty on his own ground, is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth.

A sensible woman can never be happy with a fool.

For I love to indulge the contemplation of human nature in a progressive state of improvement and melioration: and if the idea would not be considered as visionary and chimerical, I could fondly hope that the present plan of the great Potentate of the North [Catherine the Great], might, in some measure, lay the foundation for that assimilation of language, which, producing assimilation of manners and interests, should one day remove many of the causes of hostility from amongst mankind.

I shall wear the Medal you were pleasd to Compli[men]t me with, with great pleasure; and shall present the other’s to Indian Chiefs as I have already done one to the Half King. I am particularly obligd in your favour of the Rum out of your own private Store I shall allways remember my duty in drinking of it and then your Honour’s health can never be forgot.

A primary object should be the education of our youth in the science of government. In a republic, what species of knowledge can be equally important? And what duty more pressing than communicating it to those who are to be the future guardians of the liberties of the country?

We sainted St. Tammany (King Tamanend III) because he embodied moral perfection and every divine qualification that a deity could possess. I hold him in higher esteem than the saints of the Roman Catholic Church. He’ll forever be the patron saint of America.

The foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing is a vice so mean and low that every person of sense and character detests and despises it.

Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all.

All the parts combined cannot fail to find in the united mass of means and efforts greater strength, greater resource, proportionably greater security from external danger, a less frequent interruption of their peace by foreign nations.

The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations.

In time of peace, prepare for war.

Honesty is always the best policy.

I’ll die on my feet before I’ll live on my knees!

Real men despise battle, but will never run from it.

Truth will ultimately prevail where there are pains to bring it to light.

Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.

Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth.

Worry is the interest paid by those who borrow trouble.

Paper money has had the effect in your state that it will ever have, to ruin commerce, oppress the honest, and open the door to every species of fraud and injustice.

The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.

Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. Experience has taught us that it is much easier to prevent an enemy from posting themselves than it is to dislodge them after they have got possession, and when the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.

A pack of jackasses led by a lion is superior to a pack of lions led by a jackass.

It is absolutely necessary… for me to have persons that can think for me, as well as execute orders.

The basis of our political system is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government.

Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire, called conscience.

My first wish is to see this plague of mankind, war, banished from the earth.

Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all.

There is nothing which can better deserve our patronage than the promotion of science and literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness.

I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is the best policy.

The harder the conflict, the greater the triumph.

Lenience will operate with greater force, in some instances, than rigor. It is therefore my first wish to have all of my conduct distinguished by it.

Happiness depends more upon the internal frame of a person’s own mind, than on the externals in the world.

Associate yourself with Men of good Quality if you Esteem your own Reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad Company.

I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.

But lest some unlucky event should happen unfavorable to my reputation, I beg it may be remembered by every gentleman in the room that I this day declare with the utmost sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the command I am honored with.

Every post is honorable in which a man can serve his country.

Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for, I have grown not only gray, but almost blind in the service of my country.

Human happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected.

My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her.

When one side only of a story is heard, and often repeated, the human mind becomes impressed with it, insensibly.

You have no control. Who lives, who dies, who tells your story.

To be prepared for War is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.

Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.

99% of failures come from people who make excuses.

Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.