569 Quotes by John Adams
- Author John Adams
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Can a free government possibly exist with the Roman Catholic religion?{Letter to Thomas Jefferson, May 19, 1821}
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Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity and happiness of the people; and not for the profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men.
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...I say, that Power must never be trusted without a check.
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Public virtue cannot exist in a nation without private virtue, and public virtue is the only foundation of republics.
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Nineteen twentieths of [mankind is] opaque and unenlightened. Intimacy with most people will make you acquainted with vices and errors and follies enough to make you despise them.
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[L]iberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood.
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Tacitus appears to have been as great an enthusiast as Petrarch for the revival of the republic and universal empire. He has exerted the vengeance of history upon the emperors, but has veiled the conspiracies against them, and the incorrigible corruption of the people which probably provoked their most atrocious cruelties. Tyranny can scarcely be practised upon a virtuous and wise people.
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In general, our generals were out generalled.
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Old minds are like old horses; you must exercise them if you wish to keep them in working order.
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