--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Mr. President I confess that there are…" description: "\"“Mr. President I confess that there are several parts of this constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e0/benjamin-franklin-65_constitution_mr-president-i-confess-that-there-are-se_2349951.png" --- # Mr. President I confess that there are several parts of… ![“Mr. President I confess that there are several parts of this constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve them: For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged by better information, or fuller consideration, to change opinions…” quote by Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e0/benjamin-franklin-65_constitution_mr-president-i-confess-that-there-are-se_2349951.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e0/benjamin-franklin-65_constitution_mr-president-i-confess-that-there-are-se_2349951.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e0/benjamin-franklin-65_constitution_mr-president-i-confess-that-there-are-se_2349951.png) > ““Mr. President I confess that there are several parts of this constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve them: For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged by better information, or fuller consideration, to change opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise. It is therefore that the older I grow, the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment, and to pay more respect to the judgment of others. Most men indeed as well as most sects in Religion, think themselves in possession of all truth, and that wherever others differ from them it is so far error. Steele a Protestant in a Dedication tells the Pope, that the only difference between our Churches in their opinions of the certainty of their doctrines is, the Church of Rome is infallible and the Church of England is never in the wrong. But though many private persons think almost as highly of their own infallibility as of that of their sect. In these sentiments, Sir, I agree to this Constitution with all its faults, if they are such; because I think a general Government necessary for us, and there is no form of Government but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered, and believe farther that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in Despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic Government, being incapable of any other. I doubt too whether any other Convention we can obtain, may be able to make a better Constitution. For when you assemble a number of men to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those men, all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their selfish views. From such an assembly can a perfect production be expected? It therefore astonishes me, Sir, to find this system approaching so near to perfection as it does; and I think it will astonish our enemies, who are waiting with confidence to hear that our councils are confounded like those of the Builders of Babel; and that our States are on the point of separation, only to meet hereafter for the purpose of cutting one another's throats. Thus I consent, Sir, to this Constitution because I expect no better, and because I am not sure, that it is not the best. The opinions I have had of its errors, I sacrifice to the public good. I have never whispered a syllable of them abroad. Within these walls they were born, and here they shall die. If every one of us in returning to our Constituents were to report the objections he has had to it, and endeavor to gain partizans in support of them, we might prevent its being generally received, and thereby lose all the salutary effects & great advantages resulting naturally in our favor among foreign Nations as well as among ourselves, from our real or apparent unanimity. Much of the strength & efficiency of any Government in procuring and securing happiness to the people, depends, on opinion, on the general opinion of the goodness of the Government, as well as of the wisdom and integrity of its Governors. I hope therefore that for our own sakes as a part of the people, and for the sake of posterity, we shall act heartily and unanimously in recommending this Constitution (if approved by Congress & confirmed by the Conventions) wherever our influence may extend, and turn our future thoughts & endeavors to the means of having it well administred. On the whole, Sir, I can not help expressing a wish that every member of the Convention who may still have objections to it, would with me, on this occasion doubt a little of his own infallibility, and to make manifest our unanimity, put his name to this instrument.”” [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He acknowledges his evolving views, doubts his own judgment, and respects others’ opinions, while supporting a government that, if well run, benefits people but may become despotic if corrupted. **In simple terms:** He admits changing opinions and values collective wisdom, yet warns of flaws in any system. Key Takeaway Respect diverse perspectives, seek good governance. Themes humility government wisdom Mood reflective cautious Type philosophical political When to use this quote - constitutional drafting - public policy - civic education - leadership training Key Concepts political philosophy collective decision‑making Questions to Reflect On - How can we mitigate personal biases in group decisions? - What safeguards prevent a well‑intended government from becoming despotic? A Different Perspective Even collective wisdom cannot guarantee a perfect system; bias and self‑interest persist. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Constitution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constitution/) [Hive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hive/) [Judgment of others](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judgment-of-others/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) ## Related quotes > [“I agree to this Constitution with all its faults, if they are such: because I think a General Government necessary for us, and there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/i-agree-to-this-constitution-with-all-its-faults-if-they-are-such/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [In these sentiments, sir, I agree to this Constitution, with all its faults, if they are such; because I think a General Government necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/in-these-sentiments-sir-i-agree-to-this-constitution-with-all-its/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“As for Doing-good...I have tried it fairly, and, strange as it may seem, am satisfied that it does not agree with my constitution.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/as-for-doing-good-i-have-tried-it-fairly-and-strange-as-it-may-seem/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Seen from a lower point of view, the Constitution, with all its faults, is very good; the law and the courts are very respectable;even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/seen-from-a-lower-point-of-view-the-constitution-with-all-its-faults/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [What does not benefit the hive is no benefit to the bee.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/what-does-not-benefit-the-hive-is-no-benefit-to-the-bee/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“I am not a part of this home any longer. I am a tiny thing created by indifferent scientists. I am an experiment, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-tate/i-am-not-a-part-of-this-home-any-longer-i-am-a-tiny-thing-created-by/) [James Tate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-tate/) > [“A hive mind is a social organization of RISTs that are capable of processing semantic memes ("thinking"). These could be either carbon-based or silicon-based.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-stephenson/a-hive-mind-is-a-social-organization-of-rists-that-are-capable-of/) Neil Stephenson > [“My head is a hive of words that won't settle.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/my-head-is-a-hive-of-words-that-won-t-settle/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [I'm extremely excited about working with Troika on 'The Hive.' 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Bees have a secret life we don't know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/most-people-don-t-have-any-idea-about-all-the-complicated-life-going/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [Look on the bee upon the wing 'mong flowers; How brave, how bright his life! then mark, him hiv'd, Cramp'd, cringing in his self-built,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-james-bailey/look-on-the-bee-upon-the-wing-mong-flowers-how-brave-how-bright-his/) [Philip James Bailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-james-bailey/) ## More by Benjamin Franklin > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. 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Nobody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/who-is-rich-he-that-is-content-who-is-that-nobody/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“But on the whole, though I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/but-on-the-whole-though-i-never-arrived-at-the-perfection-i-had-been/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [The good particular men may do separately, in relieving the sick, is small, compared with what they may do collectively.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/the-good-particular-men-may-do-separately-in-relieving-the-sick-is/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Love your Neighbour; yet don't pull down your Hedge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/love-your-neighbour-yet-don-t-pull-down-your-hedge/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Take counsel in wine, but resolve afterwards in water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/take-counsel-in-wine-but-resolve-afterwards-in-water/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [He that's secure is not safe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/he-that-s-secure-is-not-safe/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) [Explore all 1,692 Benjamin Franklin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) ## More Constitution quotes > [ Next came the Patent laws. 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The British Socialist Party add: 'All men must be kept equal'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/the-american-constitution-declares-all-men-are-born-equal-the-british/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [“The Court has a special responsibility to ensure that the Constitution works in practice. While education, including the transmission of our civic values from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-breyer/the-court-has-a-special-responsibility-to-ensure-that-the/) [Stephen Breyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-breyer/) > [The Constitution is very clear on the - on the declaration of war or reacting to international crimes - crimes against nations. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-pitts/the-constitution-is-very-clear-on-the-on-the-declaration-of-war-or/) Joe Pitts > [Nothing from man's hands, nor law, nor constitution, can be final. 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If such has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/i-am-apprehensive-sir-that-in-the-warmth-of-my-feelings-i-may-have/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [Conservative political opinion in America cleaves to the tradition of the judge as passive interpreter, believing that his absolute loyalty to authoritative law is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/conservative-political-opinion-in-america-cleaves-to-the-tradition-of/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) [Browse all 4,507 Constitution quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constitution/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Mr. President I confess that there are several parts of this constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve them: For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged by better information, or fuller consideration, to change opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise. It is therefore that the older I grow, the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment, and to pay more respect to the judgment of others. Most men indeed as well as most sects in Religion, think themselves in possession of all truth, and that wherever others differ from them it is so far error. Steele a Protestant in a Dedication tells the Pope, that the only difference between our Churches in their opinions of the certainty of their doctrines is, the Church of Rome is infallible and the Church of England is never in the wrong. But though many private persons think almost as highly of their own infallibility as of that of their sect. In these sentiments, Sir, I agree to this Constitution with all its faults, if they are such; because I think a general Government necessary for us, and there is no form of Government but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered, and believe farther that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in Despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic Government, being incapable of any other. I doubt too whether any other Convention we can obtain, may be able to make a better Constitution. For when you assemble a number of men to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those men, all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their selfish views. From such an assembly can a perfect production be expected? It therefore astonishes me, Sir, to find this system approaching so near to perfection as it does; and I think it will astonish our enemies, who are waiting with confidence to hear that our councils are confounded like those of the Builders of Babel; and that our States are on the point of separation, only to meet hereafter for the purpose of cutting one another's throats. Thus I consent, Sir, to this Constitution because I expect no better, and because I am not sure, that it is not the best. The opinions I have had of its errors, I sacrifice to the public good. I have never whispered a syllable of them abroad. Within these walls they were born, and here they shall die. If every one of us in returning to our Constituents were to report the objections he has had to it, and endeavor to gain partizans in support of them, we might prevent its being generally received, and thereby lose all the salutary effects & great advantages resulting naturally in our favor among foreign Nations as well as among ourselves, from our real or apparent unanimity. Much of the strength & efficiency of any Government in procuring and securing happiness to the people, depends, on opinion, on the general opinion of the goodness of the Government, as well as of the wisdom and integrity of its Governors. I hope therefore that for our own sakes as a part of the people, and for the sake of posterity, we shall act heartily and unanimously in recommending this Constitution (if approved by Congress & confirmed by the Conventions) wherever our influence may extend, and turn our future thoughts & endeavors to the means of having it well administred. On the whole, Sir, I can not help expressing a wish that every member of the Convention who may still have objections to it, would with me, on this occasion doubt a little of his own infallibility, and to make manifest our unanimity, put his name to this instrument.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Benjamin Franklin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/mr-president-i-confess-that-there-are-several-parts-of-this/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Constitution" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/mr-president-i-confess-that-there-are-several-parts-of-this/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e0/benjamin-franklin-65_constitution_mr-president-i-confess-that-there-are-se_2349951.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e0/benjamin-franklin-65_constitution_mr-president-i-confess-that-there-are-se_2349951.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e0/benjamin-franklin-65_constitution_mr-president-i-confess-that-there-are-se_2349951.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Mr. President I confess that there are several parts of this constitution which I do not at present approve…” — Benjamin Franklin", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Benjamin Franklin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Mr. President I confess that there...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/mr-president-i-confess-that-there-are-several-parts-of-this/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/mr-president-i-confess-that-there-are-several-parts-of-this/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```