A prudent silence will frequently be taken for wisdom and a sentence or two cautiously thrown in will sometimes gain the palm of knowledge, while a man well informed but indiscreet and unreserved will not uncommonly talk himself out of all consideration and weight.
Catalog
Book
Alexander Hamilton
The best way is ever not to attempt to stem a torrent but to divert it.
If the sword of oppression be permitted to lop off one limb without opposition, reiterated strokes will soon dismember the whole body.
I used to tell him that was not content with knocking [his opponent] in the head, but that he persisted until he banished every little insect that buzzed around the ears.
It will be far more difficult to undo than do.
He had rather be in his grave than in his present situation, that he had rather be on his farm than made emperor of the world, and yet they were charging him with wanting to be king.
I cannot make everybody else as rapid as myself. This you know by experience.
My plan as ever is to combine energy with moderation.