Systems are to be appreciated by their general effects, and not by particular exceptions.

All that a good government aims at... is to add no unnecessary and artificial aid to the force of its own unavoidable consequences, and to abstain from fortifying and accumulating social inequality as a means of increasing political inequalities.

A monarchy is the most expensive of all forms of government, the regal state requiring a costly parade, and he who depends on his own power to rule, must strengthen that power by bribing the active and enterprising whom he cannot intimidate.

Systems are to be appreciated by their general effects, and not by particular exceptions.

Individuality is the aim of political liberty. By leaving the citizen as much freedom of action and of being as comports with order and the rights of others, the institutions render him truly a freeman. He is left to pursue his means of happiness in his own manner.

America owes most of its social prejudices to the exaggerated religious opinions of the different sects which were so instrumental in establishing the colonies.

It is a misfortune that necessity has induced men to accord greater license to this formidable engine, in order to obtain liberty, than can be borne with less important objects in view; for the press, like fire, is an excellent servant, but a terrible master.

Party leads to vicious, corrupt and unprofitable legislation, for the sole purpose of defeating party.

The tendency of democracies is, in all things, to mediocrity.

Candor is a proof of both a just frame of mind, and of a good tone of breeding. It is a quality that belongs equally to the honest man and to the gentleman.

It is a besetting vice of democracies to substitute public opinion for law. This is the usual form in which masses of men exhibit their tyranny.

Ignorance and superstition ever bear a close and mathematical relation to each other.

All greatness of character is dependent on individuality. The man who has no other existence than that which he partakes in common with all around him, will never have any other than an existence of mediocrity.

Slavery is no more sinful, by the Christian code, than it is sinful to wear a whole coat, while another is in tatters, to eat a better meal than a neighbor, or otherwise to enjoy ease and plenty, while our fellow creatures are suffering and in want.

The disposition of all power is to abuses, nor does it at all mend the matter that its possessors are a majority.

Whenever the government of the United States shall break up, it will probably be in consequence of a false direction having been given to public opinion.

The common faults of American language are an ambition of effect, a want of simplicity, and a turgid abuse of terms.

They who have reasoned ignorantly, or who have aimed at effecting their personal ends by flattering the popular feeling, have boldly affirmed that 'one man is as good as another;' a maxim that is true in neither nature, revealed morals, nor political theory.

The very existence of government at all, infers inequality. The citizen who is preferred to office becomes the superior to those who are not, so long as he is the repository of power, and the child inherits the wealth of the parent as a controlling law of society.

The affairs of life embrace a multitude of interests, and he who reasons in any one of them, without consulting the rest, is a visionary unsuited to control the business of the world.

It is the besetting vice of democracies to substitute public opinion for law. This is the usual form in which the masses of men exhibit their tyranny.

No civilized society can long exist, with an active power in its bosom that is stronger than the law.

It is a governing principle of nature, that the agency which can produce most good, when perverted from its proper aim, is most productive of evil.

Superstition is a quality that seems indigenous to the ocean.

Today is your own. Tomorrow perchance may never come.

There’s no point in believing in things that exist.

A knife of the keenest steel requires the whetstone, and the wisest man needs advice.

Most large media firms make outsized investments to acquire and market a small number of titles with strong hit potential, and bank on their sales to make up for middling performance in the rest of their catalogs.

I never want to fake it. That's my whole thing.

I love moments in film where there's no dialogue, and somebody communicates something with a look that kills you. That's why I love going to the cinema.

I'm obsessed with media and the way audiences can become creative participants.

We have been investing in building a mobile-first selling capability by establishing the Consumer Channels Group to strengthen and align the device-selling motion and to expand our impact with OEM, retail channel partners and our operator channel, and by extending it with our opening of Microsoft Stores.

I am involved in a freedom ride protesting the loss of the minority rights belonging to the few remaining earthbound stars. All we demanded was our right to twinkle.

I love being creative in all forms.

I mean no film is beyond criticism, but I think we've made a very modest movie.

The true facts are not always obvious. They often have to be looked for.

I signed contracts I didn't think were a good idea but people around me said it was the way forward. It saddens me that I'll never own my first album ever, which sucks.

God ceases to be God only for those who can admit the possibility of His non-existence, and that conception is in itself the most severe punishment they can suffer.

I'm very careful about how I portray violence in my films. I do believe that violence, especially violent video games, are not a good thing for young kids.

In my experience an appreciative letter from a fellow writer means a lot.

The more you know yourself, the more patience you have for what you see in others.

Is it any wonder that for millions of men the only intimacy is physical, silent, and predictable?

Being born into the Royal Family is like being born into a mental asylum. Marrying into it is not something to be taken lightly.

But O, how bitter a thing it is to look into happiness through another man's eyes.

I never understand why people have children and then insist on living as though nothing has shifted.

One has to secrete a jelly in which to slip quotations down people's throats - and one always secretes too much jelly.

I will do water - beautiful, blue water.

You can't always measure the effects of activist work; you just have to wish and pray that the message gets through.