"Every science has for its basis a system of principles as fixed and unalterable as those by which the universe is regulated and governed. Man cannot make principles; he can only discover them."

"The Vatican is a dagger in the heart of Italy."

"Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it."

"Persecution is not an original feature in any religion; but it is always the strongly marked feature of all religions established by law."

"Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst."

"The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph."

"He who is the author of a war lets loose the whole contagion of hell and opens a vein that bleeds a nation to death."

"Titles are but nicknames, and every nickname is a title."

"A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right."

"When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon."

"It is the direction and not the magnitude which is to be taken into consideration."

"It is an affront to treat falsehood with complaisance."

"Time makes more converts than reason."

"It is necessary to the happiness of man that he be mentally faithful to himself. Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving, it consists in professing to believe what he does not believe."

"To establish any mode to abolish war, however advantageous it might be to Nations, would be to take from such Government the most lucrative of its branches."

"An army of principles can penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot."

"The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection."

"It is error only, and not truth, that shrinks from inquiry."

"To say that any people are not fit for freedom, is to make poverty their choice, and to say they had rather be loaded with taxes than not."

"The strength and power of despotism consists wholly in the fear of resistance."

"If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace."

"My country is the world, and my religion is to do good."

"Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best stage, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one."

"Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man."

"When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary."

"Is it not a species of blasphemy to call the New Testament revealed religion, when we see in it such contradictions and absurdities."

"The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is reason."

"'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death."

"The abilities of man must fall short on one side or the other, like too scanty a blanket when you are abed. If you pull it upon your shoulders, your feet are left bare; if you thrust it down to your feet, your shoulders are uncovered."

"We can only reason from what is; we can reason on actualities, but not on possibilities."

"Virtues are acquired through endeavor, Which rests wholly upon yourself. So, to praise others for their virtues Can but encourage one's own efforts."

"Human nature is not of itself vicious."

"There are matters in the Bible, said to be done by the express commandment of God, that are shocking to humanity and to every idea we have of moral justice."

"Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice."

"The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion."

"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."

"Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one."

"What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value."

"Suspicion is the companion of mean souls, and the bane of all good society."

"My mind is my own church."

"All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit."

"It is not a God, just and good, but a devil, under the name of God, that the Bible describes."

"It is not a field of a few acres of ground, but a cause, that we are defending, and whether we defeat the enemy in one battle, or by degrees, the consequences will be the same."

"These are the times that try men's souls."

"He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself."

"The whole religious complexion of the modern world is due to the absence from Jerusalem of a lunatic asylum."

"Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us."

"Any system of religion that has anything in it that shocks the mind of a child, cannot be true."

"That God cannot lie, is no advantage to your argument, because it is no proof that priests can not, or that the Bible does not."

"Character is much easier kept than recovered."