What they needed, in addition to many specific grievances against their particular king, was a fundamental presupposition against kings in general. W… - Carl Lotus Becker

To ask whether the natural rights philosophy of the Declaration of Independence is true or false is essentially a meaningless question.

To John Adams he [Samuel] said on one occasion, "he never looked forward in life; never planned, laid a scheme, or formed a design for laying up anything for himself or others after him. This was the truth, inexplicable as it must have seemed to his more provident cousin.

Since eighteenth century writers employed reason to discredit Christian dogma, a "rationalist" in common parlance came to mean an "unbeliever"… But this use of the word is unfortunate since it obscures the fact that reason may be employed to support faith as well as to destroy it.