The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family.
I like dreams of the future better than the history of the past.
I own that I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive.
A coward is much more exposed to quarrels than a man of spirit.
Resort is had to ridicule only when reason is against us.
It is in our lives and not our words that our religion must be read.
One man with courage is a majority.
One loves to possess arms, though they hope never to have occasion for them.
Money, not morality, is the principle commerce of civilized nations.
Conquest is not in our principles. It is inconsistent with our government.
The glow of one warm thought is to me worth more than money.
Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy, and I wish we may be permitted to pursue it.
We did not raise armies for glory or for conquest.
I do not take a single newspaper, nor read one a month, and I feel myself infinitely the happier for it.
No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden.
I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever.
Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far.
I cannot live without books.
I believe that every human mind feels pleasure in doing good to another.
The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time.
History, in general, only informs us of what bad government is.
Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy, and I wish we may be permitted to pursue it.
I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be.
When a man assumes a public trust he should consider himself a public property.
I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.
He who knows best knows how little he knows.
The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.
Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.