Evil men could be destroyed, but nothing could be done with good men who were deluded.

If you have a government of good laws and bad men, you will have a bad government. For bad men will not be bound by good laws.

Politics sure is the ruination of many a good man.

Men may have friends, statesmen cannot.

If we only elected good men, we'd never have good leaders.

A society that lacks good people willing to speak against evil or low standards can only devolve into darkness and mediocrity.

When good people in any country cease their vigilance and struggle, then evil men prevail.

When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.

Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good.

Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good.

The world is a muddy place, and if good men don't try to clean it up, bad men will make it a swamp.

There were some things that only time could cure. Evil men could be destroyed but nothing could be done about good men who were deluded.

When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle. It is not enough in a situation of trust in the commonwealth, that a man means well to his country; it is not enough that in his single person he never did an evil act, but always voted according to his conscience, and even harangued against every design which he apprehended to be prejudicial to the interests of his country. This innoxious and ineffectual character, that seems formed upon a plan of apology and disculpation, falls miserably short of the mark of publick duty. That duty demands and requires, that what is right should not only be made known, but made prevalent; that what is evil should not only be detected, but defeated.

Every actual State is corrupt. Good men must not obey laws too well.