John Francis Davis

“In a country where the whole government is a despotism, there is no other law than the expressed will of the sovereign.”

“Of all the nations that have existed, the Chinese are perhaps the most remarkable for their indefatigable industry and manual dexterity.”

“The grand secret of their numbers and their wealth, has been their principle of economical and prudent government.”

“The strange limitations of the Chinese language have been more insisted upon than they deserve.”

“The history of the Tartar dynasty in China is that of a struggle between the conquerors and the conquered.”

“The most common and most comprehensible of all motives is the love of gain.”

“The best part of their morality is that which is founded in the relations of kindred.”