May Quotes by James Madison

In a society under the forms of which the stronger faction can readily unite and oppress the weaker, anarchy may as truly…

— James Madison

Who are to be the objects of popular choice? Every citizen whose merit may recommend him to the esteem and confidence of…

— James Madison

What prudent merchant will hazard his fortunes in any new branch of commerce when he knows not that his plans may be…

— James Madison

It may be concluded that a pure democracy . . . can admit no cure for the mischiefs of faction.

— James Madison

Having outlived so many of my contemporaries, I ought not to forget that I may be thought to have outlived myself.

— James Madison

[Property] embraces everything to which a man may attach a value and have a right.

— James Madison

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

— James Madison

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

— James Madison

Who does not see that . . . the same authority which can force a citizen to contribute three pence only of…

— James Madison

Every man who loves peace, every man who loves his country, every man who loves liberty ought to have it ever before…

— James Madison

I entirely concur in the propriety of resorting to the sense in which the Constitution was accepted and ratified by the nation.…

— James Madison

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

— James Madison

It may well happen that the public voice, pronounced by the representatives of the people, will be more constant to the public…

— James Madison

[In government] the constant aim is to divide and arrange the several offices in such a manner as that each may be…

— James Madison

[The human mind] finds more facility in assenting to the self-existence of an invisible cause possessing infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, than…

— James Madison

Every nation whose affairs betray a want of wisdom and stability may calculate on every loss which can be sustained from the…

— James Madison

In the latter sense, a man has a property in his opinions and the free communication of them. He has a property…

— James Madison

But cool and candid people will at once reflect, that the purest of human blessings must have a portion of alloy in…

— James Madison

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

— James Madison

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

— James Madison

I have sometimes thought there could be no stronger testimony in favor of Religion or against temporal Enjoyments even the most rational…

— James Madison

The people can never willfully betray their own interests: But they may possibly be betrayed by the representatives of the people; and…

— James Madison

It may be considered as an objection inherent in the principle, that as every appeal to the people would carry an implication…

— James Madison

It may not be improper, however, to remark two consequences, evidently flowing from an extension of the federal power to every subject…

— James Madison

The religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man; and it is the right…

— James Madison

The class of citizens who provide at once their own food and their own raiment, may be viewed as the most truly…

— James Madison

At cheaper and nearer seats of Learning parents with slender incomes may place their sons in a course of education putting them…

— James Madison

It is possible that these may all be insufficient to control the caprice and wickedness of man. But are they not all…

— James Madison

The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place. It may be a reflection on human…

— James Madison

Strongly guarded as is the separation between Religion and Government in the Constitution of the United States, the danger of encroachment by…

— James Madison

And may I not be allowed to ... read in the character of the American people, in their devotion to true liberty…

— James Madison

The general government is proscribed from the interfering, in any manner whatsoever, in matters respecting religion; and it may be thought to…

— James Madison

If Congress can employ money indefinitely to the general welfare... they may appoint teachers in every state... The powers of Congress would…

— James Madison

Nothing has yet been offered to invalidate the doctrine that the meaning of the Constitution may as well be ascertained by the…

— James Madison

The two great points of difference between a democracy and a republic are: first, the delegation of the government, in the latter,to…

— James Madison

The free system of government we have established is so congenial with reason, with common sense, and with a universal feeling, that…

— James Madison

The most that the Convention could do in such a situation, was to avoid the errors suggested by the past experience of…

— James Madison

The great desideratum in Government is, so to modify the sovereignty as that it may be sufficiently neutral between different parts of…

— James Madison

That useful alterations will be suggested by experience, could not but be foreseen . . . . It moreover equally enables the…

— James Madison

It degrades from the equal rank of Citizens all those whose opinions in Religion do not bend to those of the Legislative…

— James Madison