From the day of the Declaration, the people of the North American union, and of its constituent states, were associated bodies of civilized men and Christians, in a state of nature, but not of anarchy.

Some suggestions for you :

To read the Bible is of itself a laudable occupation and can scarcely fail of being a useful employment of time; but the habit of reflecting upon what you have read is equally essential as than of reading itself, to give it all the efficacy of which it is susceptible.

It is of no use to discover our own faults and infirmities unless the discovery prompts up to amendment.

Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.

The Declaration of Independence pronounced the irrevocable decree of political separation, between the United States and their people on the one part, and the British king, government, and nation on the other.

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.

The influence of each human being on others in this life is a kind of immortality.

It is among the evils of slavery that it taints the very sources of moral principle. It establishes false estimates of virtue and vice: for what can be more false and heartless than this doctrine which makes the first and holiest rights of humanity to depend upon the color of the skin?

The more you meditate on the laws of Moses, the more striking and brighter does their wisdom appear.

Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air.

This idea of the transcendent power of the Supreme Being is essentially connected with that by which the whole duty of man is summed up: obedience to His will.

I have no predilection for unpopularity as such, but I hold it much preferable to the popularity of a day, which perishes with the transient topic upon which it is grounded.

In order to preserve the dominion of our own passions, it behooves us to be constantly and strictly on our guard against the influence and infection of the passions of others.

Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.

Nip the shoots of arbitrary power in the bud, is the only maxim which can ever preserve the liberties of any people.