The Excess Of All Good Things Is

The United States Is A Warning Rather Than An Example To The World.

In The First Place, The Government Ought Not To Be Invested With Power To Control The Affections, Any More Than The Consciences Of Citizens. A Man Has At Least As Good A Right To Choose His Wife, As He Has To Choose His Religion. His Taste May Not Suit His Neighbors; But So Long As His Deportment Is Correct, They Have No Right To Interfere With His Concerns.

The Existence Of Very Pious Feelings, In Conjunction With Intolerance, Cruelty, And Selfish Policy, Has Never Ceased To Surprise And Perplex Those Who Have Viewed It Calmly From A Distance. ... It Is Impossible To Exaggerate The Evil Work Theology Has Done In The World. What Destruction Of The Beautiful Monuments Of Past Ages, What Waste Of Life, What Disturbance Of Domestic And Social Happiness, What Perverted Feelings, What Blighted Hearts, Have Always Marked Its Baneful Progress!

There Have Always Been A Large Class Of Thinkers Who Deny That The World Makes Any Progress. They Say We Move In A Circle; That Evils Are Never Conquered, But Only Change Their Forms.

You Find Yourself Refreshed In The Presence Of Cheerful People. Why Not Make An Honest Effort To Confer That Pleasure On Others? Half The Battle Is Gained If You Never Allow Yourself To Say Anything Gloomy.