"Men are to be estimated, not from what they know, but from what they are able to perform."

“Man, in his animal capacity, is qualified to subsist in every climate.”

“Every step and every movement of the multitude, even in what are termed enlightened ages, are made with equal blindness to the future; and nations stumble upon establishments, which are indeed the result of human action, but not the execution of any human design.”

“The history of mankind is confined within a limited period, and from every quarter brings an intimation that human affairs have had a beginning.”

“In every commercial state, notwithstanding any pretension to equal rights, the exaltation of a few must depress the many.”

“We are fond of distinctions; we place ourselves in opposition, and quarrel under the denominations of faction and party, without any material subject of controversy.”

“…if we intend to pursue the history of our species in its further attainments, we may soon enter on subjects which will confine our observation to more narrow limits. The genius of political wisdom and civil arts appears to have chosen his seats in particular tracts of the earth, and to have selected his favourites in particular races of men.”