"Honesty, disinterestedness and good nature are indispensable..." - Quote by Thomas Jefferson

“Of all the errors which can possibly be committed to the education of youth, that of sending them to Europe is the most fatal. I see [clearly] that no American should come to Europe under 30 years of age.”

“Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.”

“It will be said that great societies cannot exist without government.”

“There is nothing more distressing ... than the hard, scoffing spirit which treats the allegation of dishonesty in a public man as a cause for laughter. Such laughter is worse than the crackling of thorns under a pot, for it denotes not merely the vacant mind, but the heart in which high emotions have been choked before they could grow to fruition.”

“Because I cannot flatter and look fair,Smile in men's faces, smooth, deceive, and cog,Duck with French nods and apish courtesy,I must be held a rancorous enemy.”

“All infractions of love and equity in our social relations are speedily punished-by fear...be honest with a man and you have no fear. Try to deceive and the relationship deteriorates.”

“No sacred fane requires us to submit to insult.”

“To yield readily--easily--to the persuasion of a friend is no merit.... To yield without conviction is no compliment to the understanding of either.”

“I would rather be the man who bought the Brooklyn Bridge than the man who sold it.”