Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions.
Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them.
Stercus accidit.
It’s seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once.
The virtues of valor and love of liberty; the only virtues which can have place among an uncivilized people, where justice and humanity are commonly neglected.
A body of ten ounces raised in any scale may serve as a proof, that the counterbalancing weight exceeds ten ounces; but can never afford a reason that it exceeds a hundred.
No quality of human nature is more remarkable, both in itself and in its consequences, than that propensity we have to sympathize with others, and to receive by communication their inclinations and sentiments, however different from, or even contrary to our own.
When men are most sure and arrogant they are commonly most mistaken.
Liberty is a blessing so inestimable, that, wherever there appears any probability of recovering it, a nation may willingly run many hazards, and ought not even to repine at the greatest effusion of blood or dissipation of treasure.
It is seldom, that liberty of any kind is lost all at once. Slavery has so frightful an aspect to men accustomed to freedom, that it must steal upon them by degrees, and must disguise itself in a thousand shapes, in order to be received.
That the sun shines tomorrow is a judgement that is as true as the contrary judgement.
Though experience be our only guide in reasoning concerning matters of fact; it must be acknowledged, that this guide is not altogether infallible, but in some cases is apt to lead us into errors.
Be a philosopher but, amid all your philosophy be still a man.
It is an absurdity to believe that the Deity has human passions, and one of the lowest of human passions, a restless appetite for applause.
Every wise, just, and mild government, by rendering the condition of its subjects easy and secure, will always abound most in people, as well as in commodities and riches.
Nothing appears more surprising to those, who consider human affairs with a philosophical eye, than the easiness with which the many are governed by the few; and the implicit submission, with which men resign their own sentiments and passions to those of their rulers.
There is no such thing as freedom of choice unless there is freedom to refuse.
The heights of popularity and patriotism are still the beaten road to power and tyranny.
A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence.
Custom is the great guide to human life.