I predict future happiness for Americans, if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.

An aristocracy in a republic is like a chicken whose head has been cut off; it may run about in a lively way, but in fact it is dead.

99% of failures come from people who make excuses.

Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by the traffic from both sides.

Men are Moved by two levers only: fear and self interest

If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.

Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan.

Speaking generally, punishment hardens and numbs, it produces concentration, it sharpens the consciousness of alienation, it strengthens the power of resistance.

Every great movement must experience three stages: ridicule, discussion, adoption.

Government can easily exist without laws, but law cannot exist without government.

Better to die fighting for freedom than be a prisoner all the days of your life.

Before you can control conditions, you must first control yourself.

A handful of soldiers is always better than a mouthful of arguments.

When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser.

A leader leads by example, not by force

Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.

In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.

We, and all others who believe in freedom as deeply as we do, would rather die on our feet than live on our knees

Sometimes opportunities float right past your nose. Work hard, apply yourself, and be ready. When an opportunity comes you can grab it.

When everything has to be right, something isn't.

Purity of speech, of the mind, of the senses, and of a compassionate heart are needed by one who desires to rise to the divine platform.