James Madison quotes

In Republics, the great danger is, that the majority may not sufficiently respect the rights of the minority.

And I have no doubt that every new example will succeed, as every past one has done, in showing that religion and Government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.

The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted.

The operations of the federal government will be most extensive and important in times of war and danger; those of the state governments, in times of peace and security.

In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.

The class of citizens who provide at once their own food and their own raiment, may be viewed as the most truly independent and happy.

What is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature?

The happy Union of these States is a wonder; their Constitution a miracle; their example the hope of Liberty throughout the world.

What spectacle can be more edifying or more seasonable, than that of Liberty and Learning, each leaning on the other for their mutual and surest support?

The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted.

Americans have the right and advantage of being armed - unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.

A well-instructed people alone can be permanently a free people.

To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea.

The diversity in the faculties of men, from which the rights of property originate, is not less an insuperable obstacle to an uniformity of interests. The protection of these faculties is the first object of government.

To the press alone, chequered as it is with abuses, the world is indebted for all the triumphs which have been gained by reason and humanity over error and oppression.

The operations of the federal government will be most extensive and important in times of war and danger; those of the state governments, in times of peace and security.

Whenever a youth is ascertained to possess talents meriting an education which his parents cannot afford, he should be carried forward at the public expense.

Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.

No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.

Every nation whose affairs betray a want of wisdom and stability may calculate on every loss which can be sustained from the more systematic policy of its wiser neighbors.

The class of citizens who provide at once their own food and their own raiment, may be viewed as the most truly independent and happy.

The operations of the federal government will be most extensive and important in times of war and danger; those of the state governments, in times of peace and security.

A pure democracy is a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person.

To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea.

In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.

Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.

The people are the only legitimate fountain of power, and it is from them that the constitutional charter, under which the several branches of government hold their power, is derived.

Of all the enemies of public liberty, war is perhaps the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other.

Of all the enemies of public liberty, war is perhaps the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other.

The capacity of the female mind for studies of the highest order cannot be doubted, having been sufficiently illustrated by its works of genius, of erudition, and of science.

It is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad.

The Constitution preserves the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation where the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.

The rights of persons, and the rights of property, are the objects, for the protection of which Government was instituted.

The people are the only legitimate fountain of power, and it is from them that the constitutional charter, under which the several branches of government hold their power, is derived.

The circulation of confidence is better than the circulation of money.

A pure democracy is a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person.

The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse.

The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home.

A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce, or a tragedy, or perhaps both.

It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood.

Religion flourishes in greater purity, without than with the aid of Government.

All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree.

The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.

And I have no doubt that every new example will succeed, as every past one has done, in showing that religion and Government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.

I entirely concur in the propriety of resorting to the sense in which the Constitution was accepted and ratified by the nation. In that sense alone it is the legitimate Constitution.

It is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad.

Let me recommend the best medicine in the world: a long journey, at a mild season, through a pleasant country, in easy stages.

Religion flourishes in greater purity, without than with the aid of Government.

The operations of the federal government will be most extensive and important in times of war and danger; those of the state governments, in times of peace and security.

I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.

I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.

A sincere and steadfast co-operation in promoting such a reconstruction of our political system as would provide for the permanent liberty and happiness of the United States.

If men were angels, no government would be necessary.

What is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature?

Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.

The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse.

The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted.

Where an excess of power prevails, property of no sort is duly respected. No man is safe in his opinions, his person, his faculties, or his possessions.

It is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad.

Wherever there is interest and power to do wrong, wrong will generally be done.

All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree.

A man has a property in his opinions and the free communication of them.

Liberty may be endangered by the abuse of liberty, but also by the abuse of power.

The diversity in the faculties of men, from which the rights of property originate, is not less an insuperable obstacle to an uniformity of interests. The protection of these faculties is the first object of government.