"What havoc has been made of books through every century of the Christian era? Where are fifty gospels, condemned as spurious by the bull of Pope Gelasius? Where are the forty wagon-loads of Hebrew manuscripts burned in France, by order of another pope, because suspected of heresy? Remember the 'index expurgatorius', the inquisition, the stake, the axe, the halter and the guillotine."

16 likes

Source: John Adams (1851). “The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States: With a Life of the Author, Notes and Illustrations”, p.479

About the author

John Adams

Founding Father, Politician

John Adams was a Founding Father and the second President of the United States, known for his role in drafting the Declaration of Independence and advocating for liberty.

All quotes by John Adams →

Same author

More quotes by John Adams

See all →
John Adams Founding Father, Politician

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

Read quote
John Adams Founding Father, Politician

"There is nothing I dread so much as the 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."

Read quote
John Adams Founding Father, Politician

"There are two ways to conquer and enslave a country. One is by the sword. The other is by debt."

Read quote
John Adams Founding Father, Politician

"Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide."

Read quote
John Adams Founding Father, Politician

"Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people; and not for profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men; therefore, the people alone have an incontestable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to institute government; and to reform, alter, or totally change the same, when their protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness require it."

Read quote