People Quotes by John Adams

Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the people.

— John Adams

The only thing most people do better than anyone else is read their own handwriting.

— John Adams

When legislature is corrupted, the people are undone.

— John Adams

People and nations are forged in the fires of adversity.

— John Adams

We have no Constitution which functions in the absence of a moral people

— John Adams

Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

— John Adams

The people have a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge - I…

— John Adams

Government is nothing more than the combined force of society, or the united power of the multitude, for the peace, order, safety,…

— John Adams

As the happiness of the people is the sole end of government, so the consent of the people is the only foundation…

— John Adams

That the desires of the majority of the people are often for injustice and inhumanity against the minority, is demonstrated by every…

— John Adams

It already appears, that there must be in every society of men superiors and inferiors, because God has laid in the constitution…

— John Adams

Laws for the liberal education of youth, especially of the lower class of people, are so extremely wise and useful, that, to…

— John Adams

The real fabric of American society is not all those flags you see on people's cars...it's in the Bill of Rights and…

— John Adams

The proposition that the people are the best keepers of their own liberties is not true. They are the worst conceivable, they…

— John Adams

...Cities may be rebuilt, and a People reduced to Poverty, may acquire fresh Property: But a Constitution of Government once changed from…

— John Adams

There is but one element of government, and that is THE PEOPLE. From this element spring all governments. "For a nation to…

— John Adams

A question arises whether all the powers of government, legislative, executive, and judicial, shall be left in this body? I think a…

— John Adams

The education here intended in not merely that of the children of the rich and noble, but of every rank and class…

— John Adams

Public virtue cannot exist in a nation without private, and public virtue is the only foundation of republics. There must be a…

— John Adams

The deliberate union of so great and various a people in such a place, is without all partiality or prejudice, if not…

— John Adams

The people, when they have been unchecked, have been as unjust, tyrannical, brutal, barbarous, and cruel, as any king or senate possessed…

— John Adams

Wisdom and knowledge, as well as virtue, diffused generally among the body of the people being necessary for the preservation of their…

— John Adams

The most sensible and jealous people are so little attentive to government that there are no instances of resistance until repeated, multiplied…

— John Adams

A constitution founded on these principles introduces knowledge among the people, and inspires them with a conscious dignity becoming freemen; a general…

— John Adams

It has ever been my hobby-horse to see rising in America an empire of liberty, and a prospect of two or three…

— John Adams

Thus, experience has ever shown, that education, as well as religion, aristocracy, as well as democracy and monarchy, are, singly, totally inadequate…

— John Adams

Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people; and not for profit, honor,…

— John Adams

Human nature itself is evermore an advocate for liberty. There is also in human nature a resentment of injury, and indignation against…

— John Adams

The consequences of these institutions (The towns or districts, the congregations, the schools,and the militia.) have been, that the inhabitants, having acquired…

— John Adams

There never was yet a people who must not have somebody or something to represent the dignity of the state.

— John Adams

It is an observation of one of the profoundest inquirers into human affairs that a revolution of government is the strongest proof…

— John Adams

The question before the human race is, Whether the God of nature shall govern the world by his own laws, or whether…

— John Adams

We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge or…

— John Adams

The dignity and stability of government in all its branches, the morals of the people, and every blessing of society depend so…

— John Adams

Rulers are no more than attorneys, agents, and trustees, for the people; and if the cause, the interest and trust, is insidiously…

— John Adams

Nip the shoots of arbitrary power in the bud, is the only maxim which can ever preserve the liberties of any people.…

— John Adams

The only foundation of a free Constitution, is pure Virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our People, in a great…

— John Adams

But what do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American war? The Revolution was effected before the war…

— John Adams

“ Tacitus appears to have been as great an enthusiast as Petrarch for the revival of the republic and universal empire. He…

— John Adams

As to the history of the revolution, my ideas may be peculiar, perhaps singular. What do we mean by the revolution? The…

— John Adams