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Men Quotes by James Madison

68 Men quotes by James Madison

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James Madison points out that when people think calmly on many topics they often end up with different opinions. He stresses that freedom of religion is a basic right that must be shared by everyone, and that no one should be a judge in his own case. He also warns that treating people as property goes against the idea of equal rights.

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The truth was that all men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree.

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But the mere circumstance of complexion cannot deprive them of the character of men.

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All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree.

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

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

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

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If man is not fit to govern himself, how can he be fit to govern someone else?

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If men were angels, no government would be necessary.

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The Convention thought it wrong to admit in the Constitution the idea that there could be property in men.

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There never was an assembly of men, charged with a great and arduous trust, who were more pure in their motives, or…

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It is the duty of every man to render to the Creator such homage...Before any man can be considered as a member…

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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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We maintain therefore that in matters of Religion, no man's right is abridged by the institution of Civil Society, and that Religion…

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

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No man can be a competent legislator who does not add to an upright intention and a sound judgment a certain degree…

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It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the…

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Whilst we assert for ourselves a freedom to embrace, to profess and observe the Religion which we believe to be of divine…

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When men exercise their reason coolly and freely, on a variety of distinct questions, they inevitably fall into different opinions, on some…

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In no part of the Constitution is more wisdom to be found than in the clause which confides the question of war…

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

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As long as the reason of man continues fallible, and he is at liberty to exercise it, different opinions will be formed.…

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The belief in a God All Powerful wise and good, is so essential to the moral order of the world and to…

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

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

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

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The real wonder is that so many difficulties should have been surmounted [in the federal convention], and surmounted with a unanimity almost…

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The diversity in the faculties of men, from which the rights of property originate, is not less an insuperable obstacle to a…

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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…

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If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government…

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Religion, or the duty we owe to our Creator, and manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction,…

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Is there no virtue among us? If there be not, we are in a wretched situation. No theoretical checks-no form of government…

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Man is known to be a selfish, as well as a social being.

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The latent causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man.

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What is here a right towards men, is a duty towards the Creator.

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No man is allowed to be a judge in his own cause, because his interest would certainly bias his judgment…

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I go by the great republican principle, that the people will have the virtue and intelligence to select men of virtue and…

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We have seen the mere distinction of color made in the most enlightened period of time, a ground of the most oppressive…

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Besides the obscurity arising from the complexity of objects, and the imperfection of the human faculties, the medium through which the conceptions…

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Congress should not establish a religion, and enforce the legal observation of it by law, nor compel men to worship God in…

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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…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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;…

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

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