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Government Quotes by James Madison

186 Government quotes by James Madison

All Government quotes James Madison’s page

James Madison’s 186 quotations trace the intellectual backbone of early American government. His careful balance of liberty and order, and his insights on constitutional design, make this a dense but rewarding read for history buffs and civic enthusiasts alike.

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[I]t is the reason alone, of the public, that ought to control and regulate the government.

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A victorious and powerful ally is but another name for a master.

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Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government.

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The protection of these faculties is the first object of government.

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If men were angels, there would be no need of government.

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Religion [is] the basis and foundation of Government

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Democracy is the most vile form of government.

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

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There is not a shadow of right in the general government to intermingle with religion. Its least interference with it would be…

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In a free government the security for civil rights must be the same as that for religious rights.

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The primary function of government is to protect the minority of the opulent from the majority of the poor.

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Justice is the end of government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been and ever will be pursued…

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

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A just security to property is not afforded by that government, under which unequal taxes oppress one species of property and reward…

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In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men you must first enable the government to control the…

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If we advert to the nature of republican government, we shall find that the censorial power is in the people over the…

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“Every new and successful example, therefore, of a perfect separation between the ecclesiastical and civil matters, is of importance; and I have…

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The passions, therefore, not the reason, of the public would sit in judgment. But it is the reason, alone, of the public,…

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It has been said that all Government is an evil. It would be more proper to say that the necessity of any…

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Power must be in the hands of the wealth of the nation, those who have sympathy for property owners and their rights,…

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It is too early for politicians to presume on our forgetting that the public good, the real welfare of the great body…

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We have staked the whole future of our new nation, not upon the power of government; far from it. We have staked…

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In the first place, it is to be remembered, that the general government is not to be charged with the whole power…

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The genius of Republican liberty, seems to demand on one side, not only that all power should be derived from the people;…

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The proposed constitution, therefore, even when tested by the rules laid down by its antagonists, is, in strictness, neither a national nor…

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If justice, good faith, honor, gratitude and all the other qualities which enoble the character of a nation, and fulfill the ends…

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[T]he delegation of the government, in [a republic], to a small number of citizens elected by the rest . . . [is]…

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“Wherever the real power in a Government lies, there is the danger of oppression. In our Governments the real power lies in…

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There is one view of the subject which ought to have its influence on those who espouse doctrines which strike at the…

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Because finally, 'the equal right of every citizen to the free exercise of his religion according to the dictates of conscience' is…

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But the most deplorable effect of all, is that diminution of attachment and reverence, which steals into the hearts of the people,…

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If there be a principle that ought not to be questioned within the United States, it is that every man has a…

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Wherever the real power in a Government lies, there is the danger of oppression.

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A just government has no need for the clergy or the church.

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If men were angels, no government would be necessary.

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In all great changes of established governments, forms ought to give way to substance

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Religion flourishes in greater purity, without than with the aid of Government.

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Government destitute of energy, will ever produce anarchy.

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The civil government ... functions with complete success ... by the total separation of the Church from the State.

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War should only be declared by the authority of the people, whose toils and treasures are to support its burdens, instead of…

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More by James Madison

“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives. A…

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Rulers who wished to subvert the public liberty, may have found an established Clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just Government instituted to secure & perpetuate…

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The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments…

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How could a readiness for war in time of peace be safely prohibited, unless we could prohibit, in like manner, the preparations and establishments…

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The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, selfappointed,…

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It is certain that every class is interested in [educational] establishments which give to the human mind its highest improvements, and to every Country…

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Since it is impossible for the people spontaneously and universally, to move in concert towards their object; and it is therefore essential, that such…

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The definition of the right of suffrage is very justly regarded as a fundamental article of republican government.

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The future and success of America is not in this Constitution, but in the laws of God upon which this Constitution is founded.

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They can make no law which will not have its full operation on themselves and their friends, as well as on the great mass…

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The effect of a representative democracy is to refine and enlarge the public views, by passing them through the medium of a chosen body…

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“... But besides the danger of a direct mixture of Religion & civil Government , there is an evil which ought to be guarded…

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Although all men are born free, slavery has been the general lot of the human race. Ignorant--they have been cheated; asleep--they have been surprised;…

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“It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government…

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The better proof of reverence for that holy name would be not to profane it by making it a topic of legislative discussion…

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