Quotessence
Home / Authors / James Madison
James Madison

James Madison Quotes

4th U.S. President

Filter quotes by topic

AllGovernmentLibertyPeopleFederalist PapersConstitutionStatesMenMayFederalistRights

Famous James Madison Quotes

“It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”

GovernmentEvilAbuseGoodControlAngels
Book:The federalist papers
Create image

“What influence, in fact, have ecclesiastical establishments had on society? In some instances they have been seen to erect a spiritual tyranny on the ruins of the civil authority; on many instances they have been seen upholding the thrones of political tyranny; in no instance have they been the guardians of the liberties of the people. Rulers who wish to subvert the public liberty may have found an established clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just government, instituted to secure and perpetuate it, needs them not.”

Religious FreedomAmerican ValuesFounding FathersNot An Apology
Book:A Memorial And Remonstrance, On The Religious Rights Of Man: Written In 1784-85
Create image

“A compleat suppression of every species of stimulating indulgence, if attainable at all, must be a work of peculiar difficulty, since it has to encounter not only the force of habit, but propensities in human nature. In every age & nation, some exhilarating or exciting substance seems to have been sought for, as a relief from the languor of idleness, or the fatigues of labor. In the rudest state of Society, whether in hot or cold climates, a passion for ardent spirits is in a manner universal. In the progress of refinement, beverages less intoxicating, but still of an exhilarating quality, have been more or less common. And where all these sources of excitement have been unknown or been totally prohibited by a religious faith, substitutes have been found in opium, in the nut of the betel, the root of the Ginseng, or the leaf of the Tobo. plant.”

AlcoholDrugsOpiumOpioidsGinseng
Author:James Madison
Create image

“The Religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man; and it is the right of every man to exercise it as these may dictate. This right is in its nature an unalienable right. It is unalienable, because the opinions of men, depending only on the evidence contemplated by their own minds cannot follow the dictates of other men: It is unalienable also, because what is here a right towards men, is a duty towards the Creator. It is the duty of every man to render to the Creator such homage and such only as he believes to be acceptable to him.”

ConscienceVirginiaSeparation Of Church And StateFreedom Of ReligionDeismUnalienable RightsFreedom Of Conscience1785
Book:A Memorial And Remonstrance, On The Religious Rights Of Man: Written In 1784-85
Create image

“If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”

GovernmentSeparation Of PowersChecks And Balances
Book:The federalist papers
Create image

“Is the appointment of Chaplains to the two Houses of Congress consistent with the Constitution, and with the pure principle of religious freedom? In strictness the answer on both points must be in the negative. The Constitution of the U. S. forbids everything like an establishment of a national religion. The law appointing Chaplains establishes a religious worship for the national representatives, to be performed by Ministers of religion, elected by a majority of them, and these are to be paid out of the national taxes. Does this not involve the principle of a national establishment ... ?”

DoeTwoLawHouseReligiousAnswersPrinciplesPureTaxesWorshipNegativeConstitutionPaidMajorityCongressPositive AtheismSeparationMinistersConsistentEstablishmentRepresentativesSeparation Of Church And StateReligious FreedomAppointmentsChaplains
Author:James Madison
Create image

“Money cannot be applied to the *general welfare*, otherwise than by an application of it to some *particular* measure conducive to the general welfare. Whenever, therefore, money has been raised by the general authority, and is to be applied to a particular measure, a question arises whether the particular measure be within the enumerated authorities vested in Congress. If it be, the money requisite for it may be applied to it; if it be not, no such application can be made.”

IfsMayHas BeensMadeParticularAuthorityRaisedCongressAriseWelfareApplicationGeneral Welfare
Book:The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution: As Recommended by the General Convention at Philadelphia in 1787 ...
Create image

“With regard to Banks, they have taken too deep and too wide a root in social transactions, to be got rid of altogether, if that were desirable. They have a hold on public opinion, which alone would make it expedient to aim rather at the improvement, than the suppression of them. As now generally constituted, their advantages whatever they be, are outweighed by the excesses of their paper emissions, and the partialities and corruption with which they are administered.”

IfsSocialOpinionTakenPaperAdvantageRootsRegardAimCorruptionWideImprovementExcessDesirableBankingPublic OpinionEmissionsTransactionsSuppressionToo DeepPartiality
Author:James Madison
Create image

“May it not be asked of every intelligent friend to the liberties of his country, whether the power exercised in such an act as this ought not to produce great and universal alarm? Whether a rigid execution of such an act, in time past, would not have repressed that information and communication among the people which is indispensable to the just exercise of their electoral rights? And whether such an act, if made perpetual, and enforced with rigor, would not, in time to come, either destroy our free system of government, or prepare a convulsion that might prove equally fatal to it?”

PeopleIfsMayMadeCountryGovernmentMightPastLibertyRightsInformationProduceCommunicationOughtExerciseProveUniversalConstitutionIntelligentPerpetualExecutionIndispensableAlarmsRepressedRigorSystems Of GovernmentTimes PastInformation And Communication
Book:The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution: As Recommended by the General Convention at Philadelphia in 1787. Together with the Journal of the Federal Convention, Luther Martin's Letter, Yates's Minutes, Congressional Opinions, Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of '98-'99, and Other Illustrations of the Constitution
Create image

“[In the case of] dangerous exercise of other powers, not granted by the said compact, the states, who are parties thereto, have the right, and are duty bound, to interpose for arresting the progress of the evil.”

SaidStatesEvilPartyCasesProgressDangerousDutyExerciseBoundsGrantedFederal GovernmentCompactFederalistArresting
Book:The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution: As Recommended by the General Convention at Philadelphia in 1787. Together with the Journal of the Federal Convention, Luther Martin's Letter, Yates's Minutes, Congressional Opinions, Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of '98-'99, and Other Illustrations of the Constitution
Create image

“I have sometimes thought there could be no stronger testimony in favor of Religion or against temporal Enjoyments even the most rational and manly than for men who occupy the most honorable and gainful departments and are rising in reputation and wealth, publicly to declare their unsatisfactoriness by becoming fervent Advocates in the cause of Christ, & I wish you may give in your Evidence in this way. Such instances have seldom occurred, therefore they would be more striking and would be instead of a "Cloud of Witnesses.”

MenWayGivingMaySometimesWould BeWishCausesChristWealthBecomingEvidenceStrongerCloudsFavorsRationalReputationInstanceWitnessEnjoymentRisingDepartmentHonorableTestimonyWish YouManlyFervent
Book:The Papers of James Madison
Create image

“Resolved, That the General Assembly of Virginia, doth unequivocally express a firm resolution to maintain and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of this State, against every aggression either foreign or domestic, and that they will support the Government of the United States in all measures warranted by the former.”

StatesGovernmentUnitedUnited StatesSupportConstitutionFormerFirmResolutionAggressionAssemblyVirginiaConstitution Of The United StatesGeneral Assembly
Book:Selected Writings of James Madison
Create image

“In a free Government, the security for civil rights must be the same as that for religious rights. It consists in the one case in the multiplicity of interests, and in the other in the multiplicity of sects. The degree of security in both cases, will depend on the number of interests and sects; and this may be presumed to depend on the extent of country and number of People comprehended under the same Government.”

PeopleMayCountryGovernmentInterestReligiousNumbersCasesRightsSecurityDependsDegreesCivil RightsSectsMultiplicityFree GovernmentReligious Rights
Book:The Federalist
Create image

“We are free today substantially, but the day will come when our Republic will be an impossibility. It will be an impossibility because wealth will be concentrated in the hands of a few. A Republic cannot stand upon bayonets, and when the day comes when the wealth of the nation will be in the hands of a few, then we must rely upon the wisdom of the best elements in the country to readjust the laws of the nations to the changed conditions.”

CountryWisdomHandsTodayLawPoliticsNationsWealthEconomyConditionsChangedElementsRelyLiberalismRepublicImpossibilityRely UponBayonetsConcentration Of Wealth
Author:James Madison
Create image

“Because the bill in reserving a certain parcel of land in the United States for the use of said Baptist Church comprises a principle and a precedent for the appropriation of funds of the United States for the use and support of religious societies, contrary to the article of the Constitution which declares that "Congress shall make no law respecting a religious establishment."”

SaidStatesUseLawCertainChurchReligiousUnitedPrinciplesUnited StatesSupportAtheismLandConstitutionBillsCongressPositive AtheismContraryFundArticlesEstablishmentBaptistsPrecedentAppropriationParcel
Book:The Writings of James Madison: 1808-1819
Create image

“Torrents of blood have been spilt in the world in vain attempts of the secular arm to extinguish religious discord, by proscribing all differences in religious opinions.”

WorldHas BeensDifferencesReligiousOpinionBloodAtheismArmsPositive AtheismVainSecularDiscord
Book:A memorial and remonstrance, on the religious rights of man; written in 1784-5, at the request of the religious society of Baptists in Virginia. ...
Create image