George Bancroft

The exact measure of the progress of civilization is the degree in which the intelligence of the common mind has prevailed over wealth and brute force. ”

In nine times out of ten, the slanderous tongue belongs to a disappointed person. ”

The fears of one class of men are not the measure of the rights of another. ”

Beauty is but the sensible image of the Infinite. Like truth and justice it lives within us; like virtue and the moral law it is a companion of the soul. ”

The public is wiser than the wisest critic. ”

The prejudices of ignorance are more easily removed than the prejudices of interest; the first are all blindly adopted, the second willfully preferred. ”

Conscience is the mirror of our souls, which represents the errors of our lives in their full shape. ”

Where the people possess no authority, their rights obtain no respect. ”

The best government rests on the people, and not on the few, on persons and not on property, on the free development of public opinion and not on authority. ”

Truth is not exciting enough to those who depend on the characters and lives of their neighbors for all their amusement. ”