James Madison Quotes

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.

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.

A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained in arms, is the best most natural defense of a free country.

A well-instructed people alone can be permanently ... -James Madison

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

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?

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.

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

What is government itself but the greatest of all ... -James Madison

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

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.

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

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.

Wherever there is interest and power to do wrong, ... -James Madison

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

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.

Liberty may be endangered by the abuse of liberty,... -James Madison

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

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.

The circulation of confidence is better than the c... -James Madison

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

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 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 truth is that all men having power ought to be... -James Madison

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

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This quote implies that individuals in positions of power should be viewed with suspicion and skepticism, as power can potentially corrupt even the best of men.

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 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.

War should only be declared by the authority of the people, whose toils and treasures are to support its burdens, instead of the government which is to reap its fruits.

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 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.

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

A man has a property in his opinions and the free ... -James Madison

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

James Madison Quotes

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