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John Adams

John Adams Quotes

2nd U.S. President

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Famous John Adams Quotes

“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.”

PeopleIfsMenFirstsLongGovernmentAmericaLawVoiceKingsOfficeConstitutionBoundsDefinitionsBritishFixedEmpiresRepublicPossessedSplendidObjectionsPrerogativeHereditaryMagistratesBritish Constitution
Book:The Works of John Adams Vol. 4: Novanglus, Thoughts on Government, Defence of the Constitution I
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“The idea of infidelity [a disbelief in the inspiration of the Scriptures or the divine origin of Christianity] cannot be treated with too much resentment or too much horror. The man who can think of it with patience is a traitor in his heart and ought to be execrated [denounced] as one who adds the deepest hypocrisy to the blackest treason.”

ThinkingMenHeartIdeasInspirationChristianityToo MuchDivineHe ManOughtHorrorAddScriptureTreatedHypocrisyResentmentInfidelityDisbeliefTraitorTreason
Author:John Adams
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“No truth is more clearly taught in the Volume of Inspiration, nor any more fully demonstrated by the experience of all ages, than that a deep sense and a due acknowledgment of the governing providence of a Supreme Being and the accountableness of men to Him as the searcher of hearts and righteous distributor of rewards and punishments are conducive equally to the happiness and rectitude of individuals and to the well being of communities.”

MenWellsHeartInspirationAgeIndividualCommunityTaughtTruth IsRewardsDuesSupremePunishmentWell BeingRighteousProvidenceVolumeGoverningAcknowledgmentSupreme BeingDistributorsSearchersRectitudeReward And Punishment
Book:The Works of John Adams Vol. 9: Letters and State Papers 1799 - 1811
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“Since natural law was thought to be accessible to the ordinary man, the theory invited each juror to inquire for himself whether a particular rule of law was consonant with principles of higher law. This view is reflected in John Adams' statement that it would be an 'absurdity' for jurors to be required to accept the judge's view of the law, 'against their own opinion, judgment, and conscience.'”

MenWould BeLawNaturalViewsAcceptingOpinionPrinciplesParticularJudgingTheoryHigherJudgmentOrdinaryConscienceStatementsAbsurdityInvitedRule Of LawNatural LawOrdinary ManConsonantsJurorsHigher Law
Author:John Adams
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“Elections, especially of representatives and counselors, should be annual, there not being in the whole circle of the sciences a maxim more infallible than this, "where annual elections end, there slavery begins." These great men ... should be (chosen) once a year-Like bubbles on the sea of matter bourne, they rise, they break, and to the sea return. This will teach them the great political virtues of humility, patience, and moderation, without which every man in power becomes a ravenous beast of prey.”

MenShouldYearsEndsMatterWholePoliticalTeachBreakVirtueSeaHumilityReturnElectionSlaveryEvery ManCirclesChosenBeastGreat MenBubblesRepresentativesModerationMaximsPreyAnnualsInfallibleCounselorBourneGreat Political
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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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“By my physical constitution I am but an ordinary man ... Yet some great events, some cutting expressions, some mean hypocracies, have at times thrown this assemblage of sloth, sleep, and littleness into rage like a lion.”

MenMeanSleepCuttingEventsExpressionOrdinaryConstitutionRageThrownLionsSlothOrdinary ManGreat EventsAssemblage
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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“A single assembly will never be a steady guardian of the laws, if Machiavel is right, when he says, Men are never good but through necessity: on the contrary, when good and evil are left to their choice, they will not fail to throw every thing into disorder and confusion. Hunger and poverty may make men industrious, but laws only can make them good; for, if men were so of themselves, there would be no occasion for laws; but, as the case is far otherwise, they are absolutely necessary.”

IfsMenMayWould BeLawChoicesEvilLeftPovertyCasesFailingHungerContraryConfusionOccasionsGood And EvilDisorderSteadyGuardianAssemblyIndustriousHunger And Poverty
Book:The Works of John Adams Vol. 4: Novanglus, Thoughts on Government, Defence of the Constitution I
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“I do not like the reappearance of the Jesuits.... Shall we not have regular swarms of them here, in as many disguises as only a king of the gipsies can assume, dressed as printers, publishers, writers and schoolmasters? If ever there was a body of men who merited damnation on earth and in Hell, it is this society of Loyola's. Nevertheless, we are compelled by our system of religious toleration to offer them an asylum.”

IfsMenBodyEarthReligiousHellAtheismKingsOffersAssumingPositive AtheismDisguiseNeverthelessPublishersCompelledAsylumsDamnationThis SocietyTolerationSwarmsPrinterJesuit
Author:John Adams
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“The Church of Rome has made it an article of faith that no man can be saved out of their church, and all other religious sects approach this dreadful opinion in proportion to their ignorance, and the influence of ignorant or wicked priests.”

MenMadeChurchReligiousOpinionAtheismInfluenceIgnoranceApproachPositive AtheismSavedIgnorantMade ItProportionWickedPriestsRomeArticlesSectsReligious Sects
Book:The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States: Diary, with passages from an autobiography. Notes of debates in the Continental Congress, in 1775 and 1776. Autobiography
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“Let us hear the dangers of thralldom to our consciences from ignorance, extreme poverty, and dependence; in short, from civil and political slavery. Let us see delineated before us the true map of man. Let us hear the dignity of his nature, and the noble rank he holds among the works of God-that consenting to slavery is a sacrilegious breach of trust, as offensive in the sight of God as it is derogatory from our own honor or interest or happiness-and that God Almighty has promulgated from heaven liberty, peace, and goodwill to man!”

MenPoliticalHeavenPeaceInterestLibertyPovertyDangerIgnoranceHonorConscienceDignitySightSlaveryExtremesNobleMapsAlmightyOffensiveDependenceGoodwillBreachExtreme PovertyDerogatorySacrilegiousBreach Of Trust
Author:John Adams
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“Where annual elections end, there slavery begins ... Humility, patience, and moderation, without which every man in power becomes a ravenous beast of prey.”

MenEndsPoliticalPoliticsTermHumilityElectionSlaveryEvery ManBeastModerationPreyAnnualsTerm Limits
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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“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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“The Hebrews have done more to civilize men than any other nation. If I were an atheist, and believed blind eternal fate, I should still believe that fate had ordained the Jews to be the most essential instrument for civilizing the nations.”

IfsMenShouldBelieveStillsDoneNationsFateAtheismEssentialsEternalInstrumentsBlindAtheistJewJudaismHebrewHands Tied
Book:The Works of John Adams Vol. 9: Letters and State Papers 1799 - 1811
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“A desire to be observed, considered, esteemed, praised, beloved, and admired by his fellows is one of the earliest as well as the keenest dispositions discovered in the heart of man.”

MenWellsHeartDesireVirtueFellowsBelovedPatrioticHumankindDispositionFlattery
Book:Discourses on Davila: A series of papers, on political history. Written in the year 1790, and then published in the Gazette of the United States
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