Mankind will in time discover that unbridled majorities are as tyrannical and cruel as unlimited despots. — John Adams Copy Share Image
I cannot conceive such a Being could make such a Species as the human, merely to live and die on this earth — John Adams Copy Share Image
I am persuaded there is among the mass of our people a fund of wisdom, integrity, and humanity which will preserve their… — John Adams Copy Share Image
Set before us the conduct of our own British ancestors, who defended for us the inherent rights of mankind against foreign and… — John Adams Copy Share Image
The question before the human race is, Whether the God of nature shall govern the world by his own laws, or whether Priests and Kings shall rule it by fictitious Miracles? Or, in other words, whether authority is originally in the People? Or whether it has descended for 1800 Years in a succession of Popes and Bishops, or brought down… — John Adams Copy Share
If there is ever an amelioration of the condition of mankind, philosophers, theologians, legislators, politicians and moralists will find that the regulation… — John Adams Copy Share Image
Tis impossible to judge with much Præcision of the true Motives and Qualities of human Actions, or of the Propriety of Rules… — John Adams Copy Share Image
“Human nature with all its infirmities and deprivation is still capable of great things. It is capable of attaining to degrees of… — John Adams Copy Share Image
Human nature itself is evermore an advocate for liberty. There is also in human nature a resentment of injury, and indignation against… — John Adams Copy Share Image
Historically, usury was defined as any interest whatever on an unproductive loan.Our whole banking system I have ever abhorred, I continue to abhor, and… — John Adams Copy Share Image
“Daughter! Get you an honest Man for a Husband, and keep him honest. No matter whether he is rich, provided he be independent. Regard the Honour and moral Character of the Man more than all other Circumstances. Think of no other Greatness but that of the soul, no other Riches but those of the Heart. An honest, Sensible humane Man,… — John Adams Copy Share
The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity — John Adams Copy Share Image
We may... affirm that the balance of power in a society accompanies the balance of property in land. The only possible way, then, of preserving the balance of power on the side of liberty and public virtue is to make the acquisition of land easy to every member of society; to make a division of the land into small quantities,… — John Adams Copy Share
“The longer I live, the more I read, the more patiently I think, and the more anxiously I inquire, the less I seem to… — John Adams Copy Share Image
But what do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American war? The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments, of their duties and obligations ... This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people was… — John Adams Copy Share
“Upon common theaters, indeed, the applause of the audience is of more importance to the actors than their own aprobation. But upon the stage… — John Adams Copy Share Image
There are only two creatures of value on the face of the earth: those with the commitment, and those who require the commitment of… — John Adams Copy Share Image
I will insist the Hebrews have [contributed] more to civilize men than any other nation. If I was an atheist and believed in blind eternal fate, I should still believe that fate had ordained the Jews to be the most essential instrument for civilizing the nations. They are the most glorious nation that ever inhabited this Earth. The Romans and… — John Adams Copy Share
“Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity and happiness of the people; and not for the profit, honor, or… — John Adams Copy Share Image
During the whole time I sat with him in Congress, I never heard him utter three sentences together. — John Adams Copy Share Image
