There is more selfishness and less principle among members of Congress than I had any conception of, before I became President of the U.S.

The Presidency is not a bed of roses.

Peace, plenty, and contentment reign throughout our borders, and our beloved country presents a sublime moral spectacle to the world.

Under the benignant providence of Almighty God the representatives of the States and of the people are again brought together to deliberate for the public good.

Under the blessings of Divine Providence... It becomes us, in humility, to make our devout acknowledgments to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, for the inestimable civil and religious blessings with which we are favored.

No president who performs his duties faithfully and conscientiously can have any leisure. If he entrusts the details and smaller matters to subordinates constant errors will occur. I prefer to supervise the whole operations of the government myself rather than entrust the public business to subordinates, and this makes my duties very great.

General Taylor is, I have no doubt, a well-meaning old man. He is, however, uneducated, exceedingly ignorant of public affairs, and I should judge, of very ordinary capacity.

The gratitude ... should be commensurate with the boundless blessings which we enjoy.

Minorities have a right to appeal to the Constitution as a shield against such oppression.

Foreign powers do not seem to appreciate the true character of our government.

I cannot, whilst President of the United States, descend to enter into a newspaper controversy.

All distinctions of birth or of rank have been abolished. All citizens, whether native or adopted, are placed upon terms of precise equality. All are entitled to equal rights and equal protection.

If a man . . . would shake and not be shaken, grip and not be gripped, taking care always to squeeze the hand of his adversary as hard as it squeezed him, then he suffered no inconvenience from it.

The passion for office among members of Congress is very great, if not absolutely disreputable, and greatly embarrasses the operations of the Government. They create offices by their own votes and then seek to fill them themselves.

I love you Sarah. For all eternity, I love you.

There are four great measures for my administration - a reduction of tariff, an independent treasury, settlement of the Oregon boundary and acquisition of California.