Daily Archive: February 2, 2023

“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.”

And

“A government of laws, and not of men.”

And

“All the perplexities, confusion and distress in America arise, not from defects in their Constitution or Confederation, not from want of honor or virtue, so much as from the downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit and circulation.”

And

“Because power corrupts, society’s demands for moral authority and character increase as the importance of the position increases.”

And

“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”

And

“Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war.”

And

“I always consider the settlement of America with reverence and wonder, as the opening of a grand scene and design in providence, for the illumination of the ignorant and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the earth.”

And

“I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy.”

And

“If we do not lay out ourselves in the service of mankind whom should we serve?”

And

“Let us tenderly and kindly cherish, therefore, the means of knowledge. Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write.”

And

“Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the people.”

And

“Old minds are like old horses; you must exercise them if you wish to keep them in working order.”

And

“Power always thinks… that it is doing God’s service when it is violating all his laws.”

And

“There are two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live.”

And

“Tis impossible to judge with much Præcision of the true Motives and Qualities of human Actions, or of the Propriety of Rules contrived to govern them, without considering with like Attention, all the Passions, Appetites, Affections in Nature from which they flow. An intimate Knowledge therefore of the intellectual and moral World is the sole foundation on which a stable structure of Knowledge can be erected.”

And

“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.”

And

“Yesterday the greatest question was decided which ever was debated in America; and a greater perhaps never was, nor will be, decided among men. A resolution was passed without one dissenting colony, “that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States.”

And

“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.”

And

“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.”

And

“Our obligations to our country never cease but with our lives.”

And

“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 from 1760–1775, in the course of fifteen years, before a drop of blood was shed at Lexington.”

And

“Power always sincerely, conscientiously, de très bon foi, believes itself right. Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views, beyond the comprehension of the weak.”

And

“Let the human mind loose. It must be loose. It will be loose. Superstition and dogmatism cannot confine it.”

And

“This is the most magnificent movement of all! There is a dignity, a majesty, a sublimity, in this last effort of the patriots that I greatly admire. The people should never rise without doing something to be remembered — something notable and striking. This destruction of the tea is so bold, so daring, so firm, intrepid and inflexible, and it must have so important consequences, and so lasting, that I can’t but consider it as an epocha in history!”
On the Boston Tea Party (17 December 1773)

And

“Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom.”

And

Posterity! you will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom! I hope you will make a good use of it.” John Adams, Letters of John Adams, Addressed to His Wife

Wikipedia: John Adams

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