JOHN ADAMS QUOTES
American President (1735-1826)
Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.
JOHN ADAMS
letter to Abigail Adams, Jul. 17, 1775
There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.
JOHN ADAMS
letter to Jonathan Jackson, Oct. 2, 1789
A government of laws, and not of men.
JOHN ADAMS
Novanglus Essays, No. 7
The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.
JOHN ADAMS
Notes for an oration at Braintree, Spring 1772
Laws for the liberal education of youth, especially of the lower class of people, are so extremely wise and useful, that, to a humane and generous mind, no expense for this purpose would be thought extravagant.
JOHN ADAMS
Thoughts on Government
It is more important that innocence be protected than it is that guilt be punished, for guilt and crimes are so frequent in this world that they cannot all be punished. But if innocence itself is brought to the bar and condemned, perhaps to die, then the citizen will say, 'whether I do good or whether I do evil is immaterial, for innocence itself is no protection,' and if such an idea as that were to take hold in the mind of the citizen that would be the end of security whatsoever.
JOHN ADAMS
attributed, John Adams: His Words
Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.
JOHN ADAMS
Argument in Defense of the British Soldiers in the Boston Massacre Trials, Dec. 4, 1770
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.
JOHN ADAMS
letter to John Taylor, 1814
The jaws of power are always open to devour, and her arm is always stretched out, if possible, to destroy the freedom of thinking, speaking, and writing.
JOHN ADAMS
A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law
Let every sluice of knowledge be opened and set a-flowing.
JOHN ADAMS
A Dissertation on the Canon and the Feudal Law
The consequences arising from the continual accumulation of public debts in other countries ought to admonish us to be careful to prevent their growth in our own.
JOHN ADAMS
First Address to Congress, Nov. 23, 1797
Abuse of words has been the great instrument of sophistry and chicanery, of party, faction, and division of society.
JOHN ADAMS
letter to J. H. Tiffany, Mar. 31, 1819
Thanks to God that he gave me stubbornness when I know I am right.
JOHN ADAMS
letter to Edmund Jenings, 1782
The fundamental article of my political creed is that despotism, or unlimited sovereignty, or absolute power, is the same in a majority of a popular assembly, an aristocratical council, an oligarchical junto, and a single emperor. Equally arbitrary, cruel, bloody, and in every respect diabolical.
JOHN ADAMS
letter to Thomas Jefferson, Nov. 13, 1815
As to the history of the revolution, my ideas may be peculiar, perhaps singular. What do we mean by the Revolution? The war? That was no part of the revolution; it was only an effect and consequence of it. The revolution was in the minds of the people, and this was effected ... before a drop of blood was shed.
JOHN ADAMS
letter to Thomas Jefferson, Aug. 24, 1815
Our obligations to our country never cease but with our lives.
JOHN ADAMS
letter to Benjamin Rush, Apr. 18, 1808
The prospect is chilling, on every Side. Gloomy, dark, melancholy, and dispiriting. When and where will the light spring up?
JOHN ADAMS
diary, Sep. 16, 1777
The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.
JOHN ADAMS
notes for an oration at Braintree, spring 1772
While all other Sciences have advanced, that of Government is at a stand; little better understood; little better practiced now than three or four thousand years ago.
JOHN ADAMS
letter to Thomas Jefferson, Jul. 9, 1813
We ought to consider what is the end of government, before we determine which is the best form. Upon this point all speculative politicians will agree, that the happiness of society is the end of government, as all Divines and moral Philosophers will agree that the happiness of the individual is the end of man. From this principle it will follow, that the form of government which communicates ease, comfort, security, or, in one word, happiness, to the greatest number of persons, and in the greatest degree, is the best.
JOHN ADAMS
Thoughts on Government