All Fisher Ames Quotes
- A democracy is a volcano which conceals the fiery materials of its own destruction. These will produce an eruption and carry desolation in their way. Carry
- Our liberty depends on our education, our laws, and habits . . . it is founded on morals and religion, whose authority reigns in the… All
- The rights of conscience, of bearing arms, of changing the government, are declared to be inherent in the people. Arms
- [Why] should not the Bible regain the place it once held as a school book? Its morals are pure, its examples captivating and noble. The… Bible
- The happiness of a people, and the good order and preservation of civil government, essentially depend on piety, religion, and morality. Civil
- Liberty is not to be enjoyed, indeed it cannot exist, without the habits of just subordination; it consists, not so much in removing all restraint… All
- We are not to consider ourselves, while here, as at church or school, to listen to the harangues of speculative piety; we are here to… Charge
- The known propensity of a democracy is to licentiousness which the ambitious call, and ignorant believe to be liberty. Ambitious
- I am commonly opposed to those who modestly assume the rank of champions of liberty, and make a very patriotic noise about the people. It… Anybody
- I consider biennial elections as a security that the sober, second thought of the people shall be law. Biennial
- Democracy, in its best state, is but the politics of Bedlam; while kept chained, its thoughts are frantic, but when it breaks loose, it kills… Bedlam
- Liberty has never lasted long in a democracy, nor has it ever ended in anything better than despotism. Anything Better
- [the framers of the Constitution] intended our government should be a republic, which differs more widely from a democracy than a democracy from a despotism. Constitution
- The gentleman puts me in mind of an old hen which persists in setting after her eggs are taken away. Eggs
- No one ever became, or can become truly eloquent without being a reader of the Bible, and an admirer of the purity and sublimity of… Admirer
- Should not the Bible regain the place it once held as a schoolbook? Its morals are pure, its examples are captivating and noble....In no Book… Alike
- America is rising with a giant's strength. Its bones are yet but cartilages. America
- Time never fails to bring every exalted reputation to a strict scrutiny. Bring
- We have a dangerous trend beginning to take place in our education. We're starting to put more and more textbooks into our schools. We've become… Accustomed
- I have heard it remarked that men are not to be reasoned out of an opinion they have not reasoned themselves into. Heard
- A monarchy is a merchantman which sails well, but will sometimes strike on a rock, and go to the bottom; a republic is a raft… Bottom
- A large portion of our citizens, who will not believe, even on the evidence of facts, that any public evils exist, or are impending. They… Any
- The House is composed of very good men, not shining, but honest and reasonably well-informed, and in time will be found to improve, and not… Believe
- [O]ur sages in the great [constitutional] convention... intended our government should be a republic which differs more widely from a democracy than a democracy from… Chief
- We are, heart and soul, friends to the freedom of the press...It is a precious pest, and a necessary mischief, and there would be no… Freedom