Home / Quotes / Quote by Alexander Hamilton

Quote by Alexander Hamilton

“It is in vain to hope to guard against events too mighty for human foresight or precaution, and it would be idle to object to a government because it could not perform impossibilities.”

Quote by Alexander Hamilton

Book:The federalist papers

Work

The federalist papers

Comprising a series of 85 essays, The Federalist Papers were written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. These essays were published in newspapers in New York from 1787 to 1788, aiming to persuade the public to support the ratification of the Constitution. The works are considered foundational texts in American political theory and constitutional law. more

Author

Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father of the United States, born on January 11, 1757, and died on July 12, 1804. He played a crucial role in the American Revolutionary War and was instrumental in the drafting of the U.S. Constitution. As the first Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton promoted fiscal stability and economic growth, establishing the First Bank of the United States and proposing solutions for federal debt. His ideas and policies had a profound impact on the early political and economic development of the United States. more

You May Also Like

“[I]n framing a Government for a nation we ought, in those provisions which are designed to be permanent, to calculate not on temporary, but on permanent causes of expence.”

Government Nations Causes Ought Permanent Temporary Provision Framing

Book:The Federalist: A Commentary on the Constitution of the United States

Source: The Federalist: A Commentary on the Constitution of the United States

“We are too solicitous for government intervention, on the theory, first, that the people themselves are helpless, and second, that the Government has superior capacity for action. Often times both of these conclusions are wrong.”

People Firsts Government Action Theory Capacity Superiors Conclusion Helpless Intervention Government Intervention

Author:Calvin Coolidge

“The germ of dissolution of our federal government is in the constitution of the federal judiciary; an irresponsible body, (for impeachment is scarcely a scare-crow) working like gravity by night and by day, gaining a little today and a little tomorrow, and advancing its noiseless step like a thief, over the field of jurisdiction, until all shall be usurped from the States, and the government of all be consolidated into one.”

“One insidious practice which sugar-coats the dose of Federal intrusion is the division of expense . . .”

Government Practice Expenses Division Sugar Coats Dose Insidious Intrusion

Author:Calvin Coolidge

“The most that the Convention could do in such a situation, was to avoid the errors suggested by the past experience of other countries, as well as of our own; and to provide a convenient mode of rectifying their own errors, as future experience may unfold them.”

Wells May Country Government Past Situation Errors Conventions Other Countries Convenient Past Experiences

Book:The Federalist, on the New Constitution, Written in the Year 1788

Source: The Federalist, on the New Constitution, Written in the Year 1788

“Billy Jean King could not get credit when her husband was in law school and she was winning the Wimbledon, because he had to sign the cards. You know, you had these cases in the '70s of women who were mayors who couldn't get credit unless their husbands signed for them.”

Knows School Law Winning Cases Kings Husband Credit Cards In-laws Mayors Law School Wimbledon

Author:Gail Collins

“We may be assured by past experience, that such a practice [as some states charging high taxes on goods from other states] would be introduced by future contrivances; and both by that and a common knowledge of human affairs, that it would nourish unceasing animosities, and not improbably terminate in serious interruptions of the public tranquility.”

Humans May States Government Would Be Past Common Practice Serious Taxes Affair Goods Tranquility Assured Interruptions Animosity Charging Past Experiences Common Knowledge High Taxes

Author:James Madison

“At first view it might seem not to square with the republican theory, to suppose either that a majority have not the right, or that a minority will have the force to subvert a government . . . . But theoretic reasoning in this, as in most other cases, must be qualified by the lessons of practice.”

Firsts Seems Government Might Force Views Practice Cases Theory Republican Lessons Majority Reasoning Minorities Squares Qualified

Book:The Federalist Papers: A Collection of Essays Written in Favour of the New Constitution

Source: The Federalist Papers: A Collection of Essays Written in Favour of the New Constitution

“Experience assures us, that the efficacy of the provision has been greatly over-rated; and that some more adequate defense is indispensably necessary for the more feeble, against the more powerful members of the government.”

Has Beens Government Powerful Members Defense Adequate Provision Efficacy

Book:The federalist papers

Source: The federalist papers

“Frequent elections are unquestionably the only policy by which this dependence and sympathy can be effectually secured. But what particular degree of frequency may be absolutely necessary for the purpose, does not appear to be susceptible of any precise calculation; and must depend on a variety of circumstances with which it may be connected. Let us consult experience, the guide that ought always to be followed, whenever it can be found.”

Source: The Federalist Papers: A Collection of Essays Written in Favour of the New Constitution