Daniel Webster

Today is the birthday of Daniel Webster, the American Statesman  (1782-1852) who said

A country cannot subsist well without liberty, nor liberty without virtue.

An unlimited power to tax involves, necessarily, the power to destroy.

Failure is more frequently from want of energy than want of capital.

God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it.

He who tampers with the currency robs labor of its bread.

How little do they see what really is, who frame their hasty judgment upon that which seems.

I apprehend no danger to our country from a foreign foe... Our destruction, should it come at all, will be from another quarter. From the inattention of the people to the concerns of their government, from their carelessness and negligence, I must confess that I do apprehend some danger.

I mistrust the judgment of every man in a case in which his own wishes are concerned.

It is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God it shall be my dying sentiment, independence now and independence forever.

Justice, sir, is the great interest of man on earth. It is the ligament which holds civilized beings and civilized nations together.

Let us not forget that the cultivation of the earth is the most important labor of man. When tillage begins, other arts will follow. The farmers, therefore, are the founders of civilization.