Alexander Hamilton

“Men are reasoning rather than reasonable animals.”

— Alexander Hamilton

Self-preservation is the first principle of our nature.

— Alexander Hamilton

“I never expect a perfect work from an imperfect man.”

— Alexander Hamilton

The civil jury is a valuable safeguard to liberty.

— Alexander Hamilton

He who stands for nothing will fall for anything.

— Alexander Hamilton

A promise must never be broken.

— Alexander Hamilton

The deliberative sense of the community should govern.

— Alexander Hamilton

The first duty of society is justice.

— Alexander Hamilton

Divide et impera must be the motto of every nation that either hates or fears us.

— Alexander Hamilton

The [president] has no particle of spiritual jurisdiction. . . .

— Alexander Hamilton

You should not have taken advantage of my sensibility to steal into my affections without my consent.

— Alexander Hamilton

The genius of the people will ill brook the inquisitive and peremptory spirit of excise laws.

— Alexander Hamilton

Laws are a dead letter without courts to expound and define their true meaning and operation.

— Alexander Hamilton

Our great error is that we suppose mankind to be more honest than they are.

— Alexander Hamilton

In the main it will be found that a power over a man's support (salary) is a power over his will.

— Alexander Hamilton

No character, however upright, is a match for constantly reiterated attacks, however false.

— Alexander Hamilton

[T]here is not a syllable in the plan under consideration which directly empowers the national courts to construe the laws according to…

— Alexander Hamilton

“No man ought certainly to be a judge in his own cause, or in any cause in respect to which he has…

— Alexander Hamilton

To my utter astonishment I saw an airship descending over my cow lot. It was occupied by six of the strangest beings…

— Alexander Hamilton

The great leading objects of the federal government, in which revenue is concerned, are to maintain domestic peace, and provide for the…

— Alexander Hamilton

In the usual progress of things, the necessities of a nation in every stage of its existence will be found at least…

— Alexander Hamilton

“An enlightened zeal for the energy and efficiency of government will be stigmatized, as the offspring of a temper fond of despotic…

— Alexander Hamilton

The people alone have an incontestable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to institute government and to reform, alter, or totally change the same…

— Alexander Hamilton

Can any reasonable man be well disposed toward a government which makes war and carnage the only means of supporting itself?

— Alexander Hamilton

Would there not be the greatest reason to apprehend, that error in the first sentence would be the parent of error in…

— Alexander Hamilton

The inhabitants of territories, often the theatre of war, are unavoidably subject to frequent infringements on their rights, which serve to weaken…

— Alexander Hamilton

It is a singular capriciousness of the human mind, that after all the admonitions we have had from experience on this head,…

— Alexander Hamilton

But might not his [the president's] nomination be overruled? I grant it might, yet this could only be to make place for…

— Alexander Hamilton

In testimony of their Respect For The Patriot of incorruptible Integrity, The Soldier of approved Valour The Statesman of consummate Wisdom; Whose…

— Alexander Hamilton

The experience of past ages may inform us, that when the circumstances of a people render them distressed, their rulers generally recur…

— Alexander Hamilton

The principal purposes to be answered by union are these the common defense of the members; the preservation of the public peace…

— Alexander Hamilton

To judge from the history of mankind, we shall be compelled to conclude, that the fiery and destructive passions of war, reign…

— Alexander Hamilton

“The causes which have been specified produced at first only unequal and disproportionate degrees of compliance with the requisitions of the Union.…

— Alexander Hamilton

This position will not be disputed, so long as it is admitted that the desire of reward is one of the strongest…

— Alexander Hamilton

There is no part of the administration of government that requires extensive information and a thorough knowledge of the principles of political…

— Alexander Hamilton

A constitution is, in fact, and must be regarded by judges, as a fundamental law. It therefore belongs to them to ascertain…

— Alexander Hamilton

The complete independence of the courts of justice is peculiarly essential in a limited Constitution. By a limited Constitution, I understand one…

— Alexander Hamilton

What plan for the regulation of the militia may be pursued by the national government is impossible to be foreseen...The project of…

— Alexander Hamilton

To cherish and stimulate the activity of the human mind, by multiplying the objects of enterprise, is not among the least considerable…

— Alexander Hamilton

Good constitutions are formed upon a comparison of the liberty of the individual with the strength of government: If the tone of…

— Alexander Hamilton