Put all your eggs in one basket, and then watch the basket

As for the proverb 'Don't put all your eggs in one basket', that, in Carnegie's opinion, was nonsense. His advice was to 'put all your eggs in one basket, and then watch the basket.'

Carnegie, of course, was preaching what he had practiced, for those were the methods he had used to get to the top (although, to give a rounded picture, he should also have mentioned the benefits of insider trading, crony capitalism and screwing down wages).

D. Reynolds, America: Empire of Liberty (2009), 245

Like a badger

[Andrew Johnson] was of an obstinate, suspicious temper. Like a badger, one had to dig him out of hole; and he was ever in one except on the hustings, addressing the crowd.

Richard Taylor, cited in D. Reynolds, America: Empire of Liberty (2009), 220

They really wanted freedom from error

Although the Puritans are often depicted as seeking freedom of conscience, that is misleading. They really wanted freedom from error - in other words liberty from false religion imposed by Charles and his advisers in order to foster true religion according to their Calvinist standards. Not only Catholics but also Anglicans were excluded from the colony: two of the first settlers, the Browne brothers, were shipped back home because they wanted to worship according to the Book of Common Prayer.

D. Reynolds, America: Empire of Liberty (2009), 34