"The greatest danger that threatens modern nations is the indifference of the majority to the public interest."

"The American democracy is a very imperfect democracy, but it is the best that the world has ever seen."

"I have always regarded the Americans as a people who are more interested in their own private affairs than in the public good."

"It is difficult to make a people who have been accustomed to live under a despotic government, understand the advantages of liberty."

"The most formidable of all the ills that threaten the future of the Union arises from the presence of a black population upon its territory."