I once had the confidence of the people ... and if I have since done any thing, either by design or misadventure, which if known, would subject me to a forfeiture of that confidence, he that knows of that thing, and conceals it, is a traitor to his country's interest.

If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. I can not remember when I did not so think ... to this day, I have done no official act in mere deference to my abstract judgment and feeling on slavery.

I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed ... to live by the light that I have.

The money one gets for selling one's soul is always spent in deadening one's conscience, so the net gain at the end of a lifetime is no greater than if the diabolic bargain had not been struck.

The political and commercial morals of the United States are not merely food for laughter, they are an entire banquet.

I was really too honest a man to be a politician and live.