Henry Clay Quotes

Government is a trust, and the officers of the government are trustees. And both the trust and the trustees are created for the benefit of the people.

Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart.

Of all the properties which belong to honorable men, not one is so highly prized as that of character.

The Constitution of the United States was made not merely for the generation that then existed, but for posterity—unlimited, undefined, endless, perpetual posterity.

Statistics are no substitute for judgment.

The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government.

The Constitution of the United States was framed by your fathers to secure the blessings of liberty to themselves and their posterity—forever.

The constitution cannot be maintained if its provisions are not upheld when they are disturbed.

The Constitution of the United States is a law for rulers and people, equally in war and in peace, and covers with the shield of its protection all classes of men, at all times, and under all circumstances.

The guarantee of religious freedom is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the American system of government.

The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure when the transactions of their rulers are concealed from them.

Never look to government for anything more than protection of your natural rights.

Henry Clay Quotes part 2

The Constitution of the United States recognizes no other master but the people.

The citizens of the United States are responsible for the greatest trust ever confided to a political society.

The true conservatism is that which keeps the government and people always under the control of virtue and justice.

All legislation is founded upon the necessity of society.

There is not a single instance in history in which civil liberty was lost, and religious liberty preserved entire.

The true republicanism is that which develops and advances the energies of a people.

A spare toilet was often the only sign of humanity in a slave prison.

Of all human powers operating on the affairs of mankind, none is greater than that of competition.

Slavery is a curse to the master and a wrong to the slave.

Surrender your own opinion, if you would command that of others.

Surely free speech should embrace and tolerate differing views.

True patriotism, it seems to me, does not require a man to agree unthinkingly with everything his government does.

Wealth can only be accumulated by the earnings of industry and the savings of frugality.

In every country the preservation of the means of independence is essential to the security of its liberties.

The Constitution of the United States, as originally framed and adopted, was put forth by the people in that character, and on the faith of it the people of the United States ratified the Constitution.

The truth is, that it is a great check upon a government, any government, to have the whole of the truth told about itself.

The Constitution of the United States was designed for the perpetuation of the liberties of the people.

My objection to the abolition of slavery, was not rooted in prejudice against the blacks.

The Constitution for the government of the United States was ordained and established by the people of the United States for themselves.

A pure democracy, if it were practicable, would be the most perfect government.

The most important of all public interests is the preservation of the means of freedom to the people themselves.

The system of slavery is inconsistent with the fundamental principles of our government.

Government is not mere legislation; it is the execution of legislation, it is a government of men.

Charity should be spontaneous; there should be no planning for it.

We must in all things submit to the authority of the Constitution, and must not place the maintenance of adhering to its spirit.

A government, to be deserving the name, must be just to all its citizens.

Government, in my humble opinion, should be formed to promote the happiness of the people.

Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty and even life itself are but dreary things.

The principle of free government excludes the idea of a sovereignty except in the people.

Free government is the masterpiece of human wisdom and contrivance.

I am a friend of a moderately free and united government, provided it is kept within due bounds.

Slavery, if it can ever be said to have existed in this country, is almost extinguished.

Happiness and perpetual peace will be the result of adhesion to the principles of the Constitution.