It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.
It is better to be alone than in bad company.
If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.
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.
Human happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected.
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.
99% of failures come from people who make excuses.
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.
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.
Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.
Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.
Perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages.
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.
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.
Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.
Worry is the intrest paid by those who borrow trouble.
The harder the conflict, the greater the triumph.
Happiness depends more upon the internal frame of a person’s own mind, than on the externals in the world.
A sensible woman can never be happy with a fool.
Associate yourself with men of good quality, if you esteem your own reputation; for ‘tis better to be alone than in bad company.
I conceive a knowledge of books is the basis upon which other knowledge is to be built.
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.
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.
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.
Be courteous to all, but intimate with few; and let those be well-tried before you give them your confidence.
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.
Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all
To persevere in one's duty, and be silent is the best answer to calumny
[death]...the abyss from where no traveler is permitted to return
Real men despise battle, but will never run from it.
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. - March 15, 1783
I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy.
It is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, extends with more or less force to every species of free government.
We must consult our means rather than our wishes.
The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible.
...overgrown military establishments, which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to Republican Liberty.
If to please the people,we offer what we ourselves disapprove, how can we afterwards defend our work? Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair. The rest is in the hands of God.
No punishment, in my opinion, is to great, for the man who can build his greatness upon his country's ruin
A bad war is fought with a good mind.
Let your heart feel for the afflictions and distress of everyone.
A slender acquaintance with the world must convince every man that actions, not words, are the true criterion of the attachment of friends.
Be not glad at the misfortune of another, though he may be your enemy.
There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet the enemy
99% percent of failures are the ones who make excuses.
It is absolutely necessary... for me to have persons that can think for me, as well as execute orders.
Wherein you reprove another be unblameable yourself, for example is more prevalent than precepts.
Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness.
Strive not with your superiors in argument, but always submit your judgment to others with modesty.
Individuals entering into society, must give up a share of liberty to preserve the rest.
The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their Constitutions of Government.
They came with a Bible and their religion- stole our land, crushed our spirit... and now tell us we should be thankful to the 'Lord' for being saved. Chief Pontiac, American Indian Chieftain
George Washington famously warned against ... 'ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear
The reflection upon my situation and that of this army produces many an uneasy hour when all around me are wrapped in sleep. Few people know the predicament we are in.
One of the expedients of party to acquire influence, within particular districts, is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts.
LIBERTY, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth.
Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the attachment.
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.
If the cause is advanced, indifferent is it to me where or in what quarter it happens.
Every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me more and more, that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome.
The great mass of our Citizens require only to understand matters rightly, to form right decisions.
Its good to live alone than to live in a bad company
Some day, following the example of the United States of America, there will be a United States of Europe.
Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.
Decision making, like coffee, needs a cooling process.
If Christ were here now there is one thing he would not be -- a Christian. Samuel Clemens "Mark Twain", American author and humorist
[T]he gradual extension of our settlements will as certainly cause the savage, as the wolf, to retire; both being beasts of prey, though they differ in shape.
A man ought not to value himself of his achievements or rare qualities of wit, much less of his riches, virtue or kindred.
Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest.
In no instance have . . . the churches been guardians of the liberties of the people. James Madison, U.S. President
Religious controversies are always productive of more acrimony and irreconcilable hatreds than those which spring from any other cause. George Washington, Revolutionary War General and U.S. President
Much was to be done by prudence, much by conciliation, much by firmness.
I had rather be on my farm than be emperor of the world.
I'll die on my feet before I'll live on my knees!
I was born a heretic. I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires. Susan B. Anthony, U.S. reformer and suffragist
I can truly say I had rather be a Mount Vernon than to be attended at the Seat of Government by the Officers of State and the Representatives of every Power in Europe.
A man is accepted into a church for what he believes and he is turned out for what he knows. Samuel Clemens "Mark Twain", American author and humorist
You say there is but one way to worship the Great Spirit. If there is but one religion, why do you white people differ so much about it? Chief Red Jacket, Seneca Indian Chieftain
Faith, as well intentioned as it may be, must be built on facts, not fiction- faith in fiction is a damnable false hope. Thomas Edison, American inventor
System to all things is the soul of business. To execute properly and act maturely is the way to conduct it to your advantage.
56.Associate yourself with Men of good Quality if you Esteem your own Reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad Company.
Do not suffer your good nature [...] to say yes when you ought to say no; remember that it is a public not a private cause that is to be injured or benefitted by your choice
Those who have committed no faults want no pardon. We are only defending what we deem our indisputable rights.
Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principles.
The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion. John Adams, U.S. President
This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it. John Adams, U.S. President
Every man thinks God is on his side. The rich and powerful know he is. Jean Anouilh, French dramatist and playwright
Speak not evil of the absent, for it is unjust.
89th: Speak not evil of the absent, for it is unjust.
Experience has taught us, that men will not adopt and carry into execution measures best calculated for their own good, without the intervention of a coercive power.
It is far better to be alone, than to be in bad company.
Creationists make it sound like a 'theory' is something you dreamt up after being drunk all night. Isaac Asimov, Russian-born American author
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 cloaths or blankets.
90. Being Set at meat Scratch not, neither Spit, Cough, or blow your Nose except there's a Necessity for it.
