All James Madison Quotes
- Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm. Enlightened
- Justice is the end of government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been and ever will be pursued until it be… Been
- The eyes of the world being thus on our Country, it is put the more on its good behavior, and under the greater obligation also,… Behavior
- I entirely concur in the propriety of resorting to the sense in which the Constitution was accepted and ratified by the nation. In that sense… Accepted
- The Constitution expressly and exclusively vests in the Legislature the power of declaring a state of war [and] the power of raising armies.... A delegation… All
- I consider it…as subverting the fundamental and characteristic principle of the Government…and as bidding defiance to the sense in which the Constitution is known to… Adopted
- I do not conceive that power is given to the President and Senate to dismember the empire, or to alienate any great, essential right. I… Alienate
- The great objects which presented themselves [to the Constitutional Convention] ... formed a task more difficult than can be well conceived by those who were… Adding
- The management of foreign relations appears to be the most susceptible of abuse of all the trusts committed to a Government, because they can be… Abroad
- The real wonder is that so many difficulties should have been surmounted [in the federal convention], and surmounted with a unanimity almost as unprecedented as… Almighty
- In all great changes of established governments, forms ought to give way to substance All
- The rights of man as the foundation of just Government had been long understood but the superstructures projected had been sadly defective Been
- No man is allowed to be a judge in his own cause, because his interest would certainly bias his judgment.... Allowed
- To provide employment for the poor, and support for the indigent, is among the primary, and, at the same time, not least difficult cares of… Among
- Among the features peculiar to the political system of the United States, is the perfect equality of rights which it secures to every religious sectEqual… Advancement
- Thus the right of nullification meant by Mr. Jefferson is the natural right, which all admit to be a remedy against insupportable oppression. Admit
- Every answer he [President John Adams] gives to his addressers unmasks more and more his principles and views. His language to the young men at… Abominable
- The purpose of the Constitution is to restrict the majority's ability to harm a minority. Ability
- The problem to be solved is, not what form of government is perfect, but which of the forms is least imperfect. Form
- Every new and successful example of a perfect separation between ecclesiastical and civil matters is of importance. Civil
- In republican government the legislative authority necessarily predominates. The remedy for this . . . is to divide the legislature into different branches; and to… Action
- [A] mere demarcation on parchment of the constitutional limits of the several departments is not a sufficient guard against those encroachments which lead to a… All
- An armed and trained militia is the firmest bulwark of republics - that without standing armies their liberty can never be in danger, nor with… Armed
- What becomes of the surplus of human life? It is either, 1st. destroyed by infanticide, as among the Chinese and Lacedemonians; or 2d. it is… Among
- The diversity in the faculties of men, from which the rights of property originate, is not less an insuperable obstacle to a uniformity of interests.… Acquiring