“I set out on this ground, which I suppose to be self-evident, that the earth belongs in usufruct to the living.”

“Tyranny is defined as that which is legal for the government but illegal for the citizenry.”

“Half a loaf is better than no bread” 

“Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends [life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness] it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government...” 

“A habilidade mais valiosa é aquela de jamais usar duas palavras quando uma apenas basta.”

“Some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem them like the ark of the covenant, too sacred to be touched. They ascribe to the men of the preceding age a wisdom more than human, and suppose what they did to be beyond amendment. I knew that age well; I belonged to it, and labored with it. It deserved well of its country. It was very like the present, but without the experience of the present; and forty years of experience in government is worth a century of book-reading; and this they would say themselves, were they to rise from the dead. I am certainly not an advocate for frequent and untried changes in laws and constitutions. I think moderate imperfections had better be borne with; because, when once known, we accommodate ourselves to them, and find practical means of correcting their ill effects. But I know also, that laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths disclosed, and manners and opinions change with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also, and keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy, as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.” 

“The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family” 

“God grant that men of principle shall be our principal men.”

“No government ought to be without censors; and where the press is free no one ever will.”

“I consider him [Alexander von Humboldt] the most important scientist whom I have met.”

“A Man's management of his own purse speaks volumes about character”

“Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and opressions of the body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day.”

“Good humor is one of the preservatives of our peace and tranquility” 

“In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own.”

“An enemy generally says and believes what he wishes.”