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John Adams

John Adams Quotes

2nd U.S. President

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Famous John Adams Quotes

“We should be unfaithful to ourselves if we should ever lose sight of the danger to our Liberties if anything partial or extraneous should infect the purity of our free, fair, virtuous, and independent elections. If an election is to be determined by a majority of a single vote, and that can be procured by a party through artifice or corruption, the Government may be the choice of a party for its own ends, not of the nation for the national good.”

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Author:John Adams
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“If Aristotle, Livy, and Harrington knew what a republic was, the British constitution is much more like a republic than an empire. They define a republic to be a government of laws, and not of men. If this definition is just, the British constitution is nothing more or less than a republic, in which the king is first magistrate. This office being hereditary, and being possessed of such ample and splendid prerogatives, is no objection to the government's being a republic, as long as it is bound by fixed laws, which the people have a voice in making, and a right to defend.”

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Book:The Works of John Adams Vol. 4: Novanglus, Thoughts on Government, Defence of the Constitution I
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“The Holy Ghost carries on the whole Christian system in this earth. Not a Baptism, not a Marriage, not a Sacrament can be administered but by the Holy Ghost... There is no Authority civil or religious: there can be no legitimate Government but what is administered by this Holy Ghost. There can be no salvation without it. All, without it is Rebellion and Perdition, or in more orthodox words Damnation.”

WholeGovernmentEarthChristianReligiousHolyAuthoritySalvationGhostCarrieRebellionOrthodoxSacramentsHoly GhostBaptismDamnationPerditionLegitimate Government
Author:John Adams
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“The United States of America have exhibited, perhaps, the first example of governments erected on the simple principles of nature. . . . [In] the formation of the American governments . . . it will never be pretended that any persons employed in that service had interviews with the gods, or were in any degree under the influence of heaven. . . . These governments were contrived merely by the use of reason and the senses.”

FirstsPersonsStatesReasonUseGovernmentAmericaReligionHeavenChurchSimpleUnitedPrinciplesUnited StatesAtheismInfluenceExampleDegreesSeparationSensesInterviewsSecularUnited States Of AmericaEmployedChurch And StateFormationSeparation Of Church And StateOur Founding FathersFounding Fathers ChristianState GovernmentUs Founding FathersSeparation Between Church And StateFounding Fathers ReligiousAmerican GovernmentReligion GodChristian ChurchConstitution Of The United StatesFounding Fathers Anti ReligionFounding Fathers Of AmericaFounding AmericaAmerican Founding FathersFounding Fathers AtheistDeismReligion ChristianChristian FatherUnited States GovernmentReligion And GovernmentAmerican Constitution
Author:John Adams
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“The truth is that neither then nor at any former time, since I had attained my maturity in Age, Reading and reflection had I imbibed any general Prejudice against Kings, or in favour of them. It appeared to me then as it has done ever since, that there is a State of Society in which a Republican Government is the best, and in America the only one.”

StatesDoneGovernmentAgeAmericaReadingKingsRepublicanTruth IsReflectionPrejudiceFormerMaturityFavourRepublican Government
Book:The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States: Autobiography (cont.) Diary. Notes of a debate in the Senate of the United States. Essays: On private revenge. On self-delusion. On private revenge. Dissertation on the canon and the feudal law. Instructions of the town of Braintree to their representative, 1765. The Earl of Clarendon to William Pym. Governor Winthrop to Governor Bradford. Instructions of the town of Boston to their representatives, 1768. Instructions of the town of
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“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide. It is in vain to say that democracy is less vain, less proud, less selfish, less ambitious, or less avaricious than aristocracy or monarchy. It is not true, in fact, and nowhere appears in history. Those passions are the same in all men, under all forms of simple government, and when unchecked, produce the same effects of fraud, violence, and cruelty.”

MenLongFactsGovernmentLastsRememberFormPassionSimpleDemocracyViolenceEffectsProduceProudWasteMurderSuicideSelfishCommitCrueltyVainFraudAmbitiousMonarchySuitableAristocracyDemocracies HaveViolence And Cruelty
Author:John Adams
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“If the multitude is possessed of the balance of real estate, the multitude will have the balance of power, and in that case the multitude will take care of the liberty, virtue, and interest of the multitude in all acts of government.”

IfsRealGovernmentCarePoliticsInterestLibertyCasesEconomyVirtueBalanceTake CareLiberalismPossessedMultitudesEstatesBalance Of Power
Book:The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States: With a Life of the Author, Notes and Illustrations
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“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

PeopleMadeStatesGodGovernmentAmericaPoliticalPoliticsReligiousFreedomLibertyMoralVirtueRightsSocietyMoralityBibleConstitutionLawyerPresidentialUsaHeritageVirtuousFoundersFoundingFirst AmendmentGoverningChurch And StateInadequateOur Founding FathersUs HistoryCivil SocietyFounding Fathers ChristianUs Founding FathersAmerican SocietyFounding Fathers ReligionFounding Fathers ReligiousAmerican GovernmentReligion GodReligious LibertyFounding Fathers Of AmericaFounding AmericaAmerican Founding FathersFounding Fathers AtheistChristian FatherChristian HeritageUs ConstitutionAmerican LibertyFounding Fathers DemocracyReligion And GovernmentMorality And ReligionLiberty And JusticeContendingMoral VirtuesRevolution Founding FathersReligion In SocietyGovernment And SocietyChristian PatrioticOne Nation Under GodAmerican ConstitutionChristian MoralityJustice Of GodFuture Of AmericaChristianity And GovernmentPatriotic ReligiousMoral DecayChristian SchoolsMoral FreedomMoral Society
Book:Works: with a life of the author
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“I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy.”

MayWarPhilosophyGovernmentPoliticalEducationLibertyStudySonRevolutionMathematicsMathSensualMathematicalRevolutionaryMy SonAdamPatriotGeographyPolitical PhilosophyFreedom And LibertyFreedom LibertyProperty RightsAmerican RevolutionTotal WarTapestryNavalMath And ScienceRevolutionary WarNatural HistoryMathematics And ScienceAmerican LibertyMath EducationLiberty And JusticeMathematical LogicGovernment And SocietyPorcelainSocial HistoryNatural PhilosophyColonistsHistorical MilitaryAmerican JusticePolitics And WarUnnecessary WarMath And MusicStudying MathematicsRevolutionary Leaders
Book:The Letters of John and Abigail Adams
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“There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.”

MenInspirationalWarGovernmentPoliticsFreedomLibertyPowerDemocracyDangerTrustOughtOur SocietyPatrioticAnti WarAntiwarPatriotMaximsFreedom And LibertyFreedom LibertyPolitical PowerDemocracies HaveBearing ArmsAmerican GovernmentFree GovernmentRights And FreedomsAmerican LibertyPublic TrustGovernment And SocietyGovernment And PoliticsPower GovernmentPower PoliticsEndangerment
Author:John Adams
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“But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.”

GovernmentLostLibertyForeverChangedConstitutionPresidentialPatriotFoundingFreedom And LibertyFreedom Of ThoughtFreedom LibertyOur Founding FathersUs Founding FathersForefathersFounding AmericaEncroachmentUs ConstitutionAmerican PatriotismAmerican LibertyAmerican PatriotGovernment And SocietyPatriotism And Freedom
Book:The Letters of John and Abigail Adams
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“The way to secure liberty is to place it in the people's hands, that is, to give them the power at all times to defend it in the legislature and in the courts of justice.”

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Book:The Works of John Adams Vol. 6: Defence of the Constitution IV, Discourses on Davila
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“As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion, - as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen, - and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.”

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Author:John Adams
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“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other.”

PeopleHumansGovernmentReligionPassionPoliticsReligiousLibertyMoralBreakMoralityAmbitionCapableConstitutionRevengeStrongestFoundingInadequateAvariceWhalesOur Founding FathersCordsUs Founding FathersForefathersFounding Fathers ReligionFounding Fathers ReligiousAmerican GovernmentReligious LibertyFounding AmericaAmerican Founding FathersFounding Fathers AtheistUs ConstitutionAmerican LibertyReligion And GovernmentMorality And ReligionContendingAmerica FreedomMoral VirtuesRevolution Founding FathersGallantryAmerican FreedomAmerican ConstitutionPower GovernmentAmerican PowerStrong GovernmentUnbridled Passion
Book:The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States: With a Life of the Author, Notes and Illustrations
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“...Cities may be rebuilt, and a People reduced to Poverty, may acquire fresh Property: But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty once lost is lost forever. When the People once surrendered their share in the Legislature, and their Right of defending the Limitations upon the Government, and of resisting every Encroachment upon them, they can never regain it.”

PeopleMayGovernmentLostCitiesLibertyPovertyForeverShareChangedConstitutionPropertyLimitationAcquireLegislatureResistingEncroachment
Book:The Letters of John and Abigail Adams
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“We may please ourselves with the prospect of free and popular governments. But there is great danger that those governments will not make us happy. God grant they may. But I fear that in every assembly, members will obtain an influence by noise, not sense. By meanness, not greatness. By ignorance, not learning. By contracted hearts, not large souls.”

HeartMaySoulGovernmentInfluenceDangerGreatnessIgnorancePleaseMembersNoiseGrantsAssemblyMeanness
Book:Papers of John Adams
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