“If there is one principle more deeply rooted in the mind of every American, it is that we should have nothing to do with conquest.”

“...as we advance in life these things fall off one by one , and I suspect we are left with only Homer and Virgil, perhaps with only Homer alone.”

“Experience demands that man is the only animal which devours his own kind, for I can apply no milder term to the general prey of the rich on the poor.”

“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 most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.”

“All, all dead: and ourselves left alone amidst a new generation whom we know not, and who know not us.”

“In questions of power, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the constitution.”

“You are now old enough to know how very important to your future life will be the manner in which you employ your present time”

“I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery.”

“Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.”

“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.” 

“Thomas Jefferson asked himself “In what country on earth would you rather live ” He first answered “Certainly in my own where are all my friends my relations and the earliest and sweetest affections and recollections of my life.” But he continued “which would be your second choice ” His answer “France.”

“Peace, that glorious moment in time when everyone stops and reloads.”

“An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens.”

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