What is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal contro…
Author
James Madison
68 quotations
About James Madison
James Madison was a Founding Father and the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Before his presidency, Madison was a statesman and diplomat. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the "Father of the Constitution" for his pivotal role in drafting and promoting the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights.
Read on Wikipedia → Find books by James MadisonThe circulation of confidence is better than the circulation of money.
All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree.
If men were angels, no government would be necessary.
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.
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 advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.
Knowledge will forever govern ignorance and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.
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The happy Union of these States is a wonder their Constitution a miracle their example the hope of Liberty throughout the world.
Perhaps it is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad.
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 loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or imagined, from abroad.
The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home.
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.
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.
In Republics, the great danger is, that the majority may not sufficiently respect the rights of the minority.
Religion flourishes in greater purity, without than with the aid of Government.
The rights of persons, and the rights of property, are the objects, for the protection of which Government was instituted.
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.
What is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal contro…
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 o…
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 essence of Government is power and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse.