Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the comprehension of the weak. Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the people. Let us tenderly and kindly cherish, therefore, the means of knowledge. Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write. If we do not lay out ourselves in the service of mankind, whom should we serve? I always consider the settlement of America with reverence and wonder, as the opening of a grand scene and design in providence, for the illumination of the ignorant and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the earth. Education makes a greater difference between man and man than nature has made between man and brute. Because power corrupts, society's demands for moral authority and character increase as the importance of the position increases. A desire to be observed, considered, esteemed, praised, beloved, and admired by his fellows is one of the earliest as well as the keenest dispositions discovered in the heart of man. | 
