I base my calculation on the expectation that luck will be against me.
Unavailable wars are always just.
It is neither holy, Roman or an empire.
In war, groping tactics, half-way measures, lose everything.
If I were to give liberty to the press, my power could not last three days.
The logical end to defensive warfare is surrender.
In these days the invention of printing, and the diffusion of knowledge, render historical calumnies a little less dangerous: truth will always prevail in the long run, but how slow its progress!
From first to last, Jesus is the same; always the same – majestic and simple, infinitely severe and infinitely gentle.
Jesus Chris was more than man.
The nature of Christ’s existence is mysterious, I admit; but this mystery meets the wants of man. Reject it, and the world is an inexplicable riddle; believe it, and the history of our race is satisfactorily explained.
A faithful friend is the true image of the Deity.
Friendship is but a name. I love no one.
Independence, like honor, is a rocky island, without a beach.
America is a fortunate country. She grows by the follies of our European nations.
The greatest ornament of an illustrious life is modesty and humility, which go a great way in the character even of the most exalted princes.
An aristocracy is the true support of a monarchy.
It is rare that a legislature reasons. It is too quickly impassioned.
People take England on trust, and repeat that Shakespeare is the greatest of all authors. I have read him: there is nothing that compares Racine or Corneille: his plays are unreadable, pitiful.
A journalist is a grumbler, a censurer, a giver of advice, a regent of sovereigns, a tutor of nations. Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.
To a father who loves his children victor has no charms. When the heart speaks, glory itself is an illusion.