George Bancroft

“The United States of America were not the offspring of a whim, but the result of a long train of causes.”

“The ballot is the quiet civilizer, the weapon of the wise and the good.”

“The people, and the people alone, are the authors of constitutions.”

“The best government is that which governs least.”

“Truth is one, for it is indivisible; it is everlasting, for it is eternal; it is the law of the universe, for it is the law of God.”

“The grandest of all laws is the law of progressive development.”

“The public happiness is the true object of legislation.”

“The popular voice is the voice of God.”

“The people are the fountain of all power.”

“Beauty is but the sensible image of the Infinite.”

“History is the witness of the times, the torch of truth, the life of memory, the teacher of life, the messenger of antiquity.”

“No nation has ever prospered that has trampled upon the rights of man.”

“The common mind is the true Parian marble, fit to be wrought into likeness of a god.”

“The world is just as much the valid object of transitive thought and of an inference as it is of intransitive sensation.”

“The people are the only sovereigns.”

“Liberty is the daughter of God.”

“It is the people who are the true masters of their own destiny.”