James Fenimore Cooper

The disposition of all power is to abuses, nor does it at all mend the matter that its possessors are read more

The disposition of all power is to abuses, nor does it at all mend the matter that its possessors are a majority.

The tendency of democracies is, in all things, to mediocrity, since the tastes, knowledge, and principles of the majority form read more

The tendency of democracies is, in all things, to mediocrity, since the tastes, knowledge, and principles of the majority form the tribunal of appeal.

Candor is a proof of both a just frame of mind and of a good tone of breeding. It is read more

Candor is a proof of both a just frame of mind and of a good tone of breeding. It is a quality that belongs equally to the honest ;man and to the gentleman.

All that a good government aims at...is to add no unnecessary and artificial aid to the force of its own read more

All that a good government aims at...is to add no unnecessary and artificial aid to the force of its own unavoidable consequences, and to abstain from fortifying and accumulating social inequality as a means of increasing political inequalities.

Whenever the government of the United States shall break up, it will probably be in consequence of a false direction read more

Whenever the government of the United States shall break up, it will probably be in consequence of a false direction having been given to publick opinion. This is the weak point of our defenses, and the part to which the enemies of the system will direct all their attacks. Opinion can be so perverted as to cause the false to seem the true; the enemy, a friend, and the friend, an enemy; the best interests of the nation to appear insignificant, and trifles of moment; in a word, the right the wrong, and the wrong the right.