"Its constitution the glittering and sounding generalities of natural right which make up the Declaration of Independence."

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“The final end of government is not to exert restraint but to do good.”

“There was a state without king or nobles; there was a church without a bishop; there was a people governed by grave magistrates which it had selected, and by equal laws which it had framed.”

“Reminiscences of Rufus Choate. By Edward Parker, published 1860.”

“Memories of Rufus Choate by Joseph Neilson, published 1884.”

“Neither irony nor sarcasm is argument.”

“Happy is he who has laid up in his youth, and held fast in all fortune, a genuine and passionate love of reading.”

Resonant Thoughts

"Such is the constitution of civil society, that whilst a few persons are distinguished by riches, by honors, and by knowledge, the body of the people is condemned to obscurity, ignorance and poverty. …"

— Edward Gibbon

Literature1737–1794

#knowledge

"The right hon. Gentleman quoted repeatedly this declaration...to keep out of Egypt it is necessary to put it down in the Soudan; and that is the task the right hon. Gentleman desires to saddle upon En…"

— William Ewart Gladstone

Politics1809–1898

#life

"Ultimately, America's answer to the intolerant man is diversity, the very diversity which our heritage of religious freedom has inspired."

— Robert F. Kennedy

Politics1925–1968

#freedom

"There is no possibility of arguing that the present composition of the House of Lords can be justified either by logic or by reference to any preconceived constitutional theory. It is the result of a …"

— Enoch Powell

Politics1912–1998

#history