Internal improvement and the diffusion of knowledge, so far as they can be promoted by the constitutional acts of the Federal Government, are of high importance.
It will be my sincere and constant desire to observe toward the Indian tribes within our limits a just and liberal policy, and to give that humane and considerate attention to their rights and their wants which is consistent with the habits of our Government and the feelings of our people.
In a free government the demand for moral qualities should be made superior to that of talents.
I am a Senator against my wishes and feelings, which I regret more than any other of my life.
Temporize not! It is always injurious.
Perpetuity is stamped upon the Constitution by the blood of our fathers.
My political enemies I can freely forgive; but as for who abused me when I was serving my country in the field, and those who attacked me for serving my country – Doctor, that is a different case.
I have always been afraid of banks.
If in madness of delusion, anyone shall lift his parricidal hand against this blessed union, the arms of thousands will be raised to save it, and the curse of millions will fall upon the head which may have plotted its destruction.
Money is power, and in that government which pays all the public officers of the states will all political power be substantially concentrated.
As long as our government is administered for the good of the people, and is regulated by their will; as long as it secures to us the rights of person and property, liberty of conscience, and of the press, it will be worth defending.
Oh, do not cry – be good children and we will all meet in heaven.
If congress has the right under the Constitution to issue paper money, it was given them to use themselves, not to be delegated to individuals or corporations.
Elevate those guns a little lower.
To the victors belong the spoils.
Corporations have neither bodies to kick, nor souls to damn.
The individual who refuses to defend his rights when called by his government deserves to be a slave, and must be punished as an enemy of his country and a friend to her foe.
There are only two things I can’t give up; one is coffee and the other is tobacco.
No free government can stand without virtue in the people, and a lofty spirit of partiotism.
Although I could lament in the language and feelings of David for Absalom, I am constrained to say, peace to his manes. Let us weep for the living, and not for the dead.