Beauty is an outward gift, which is seldom despised, except by those to whom it has been refused.

Corruption, the most infallible symptom of constitutional liberty.

I never make the mistake of arguing with people for whose opinions I have no respect.

So long as mankind shall continue to lavish more praise upon its destroyers than upon its benefactors, war shall remain the chief pursuit of ambitious minds.

The various modes of worship, which prevailed in the Roman world, were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosopher, as equally false; and by the magistrate, as equally useful.

The wind and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.

Unprovided with original learning, unformed in the habits of thinking, unskilled in the arts of composition, I resolved to write a book.