"It will be celebrated... with pomp and parade... bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other."
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Quote collection
John Adams quotes (page 4 of 21)
406 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"Nothing is more dreaded than the national government meddling with religion."
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"We shall, by and by, want a world of hemp more for our own consumption."
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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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"The right of a nation to kill a tyrant in case of necessity can no more be doubted than to hang a robber, or kill a flea."
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"Fear is the foundation of most governments."
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"But how has it happened that millions of fables, tales, legends have been blended with both Jewish and Christian revelation that have made them the most bloody religion that ever existed?"
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"Government is nothing more than the combined force of society, or the united power of the multitude, for the peace, order, safety, good and happiness of the people."
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"The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God."
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"The Declaration of Independence I always considered as a theatrical show. Jefferson ran away with all the stage effect of that... and all the glory of it."
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"We should be unfaithful to ourselves if we should ever lose sight of the danger to our Liberties if anything partial or extraneous should infect the purity of our free, fair, virtuous, and independent elections. If an election is to be determined by a majority of a single vote, and that can be procured by a party through artifice or corruption, the Government may be the choice of a party for its own ends, not of the nation for the national good."
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"Here, every private person is authorized to arm himself, and on the strength of this authority, I do not deny the inhabitants had a right to arm themselves at that time, for their defense, not for offense."
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"Arms in the hands of citizens may be used at individual discretion... in private self-defense."
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"Before God, I believe the hour has come. My judgment approves this measure, and my whole heart is in it. All that I have, and all that I am, and all that I hope in this life, I am now ready here to stake upon it. And I leave off as I began, that live or die, survive or perish, I am for the Declaration. It is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God it shall be my dying sentiment. Independence now, and Independence for ever!"
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"People and nations are forged in the fires of adversity."
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"That the desires of the majority of the people are often for injustice and inhumanity against the minority, is demonstrated by every page of the history of the world."
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"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."
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"There's no such thing as a free lunch, unless you have a coupon for a free lunch...or someone gives you a lunch...never mind."
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"That the said Constitution shall never be construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press or the rights of conscience."
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"Banks have done more injury to the religion, morality, tranquility, prosperity, and even wealth of the nation than they can have done or ever will do good."
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