--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: [John] Adams saw clearly that politics is…" description: "\"“[John] Adams saw clearly that politics is the indispensable foundation for things elegant and beautiful. First and above all else, you must secure lif..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e96/charles-krauthammer-1232_john-adams_john-adams-saw-clearly-that-politics-is_3217869.jpg" --- # \[John\] Adams saw clearly that politics is the… ![“[John] Adams saw clearly that politics is the indispensable foundation for things elegant and beautiful. First and above all else, you must secure life, liberty and the right to pursue your own happiness. That's politics done right, hard-earned, often by war.” quote by Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e96/charles-krauthammer-1232_john-adams_john-adams-saw-clearly-that-politics-is_3217869.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e96/charles-krauthammer-1232_john-adams_john-adams-saw-clearly-that-politics-is_3217869.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e96/charles-krauthammer-1232_john-adams_john-adams-saw-clearly-that-politics-is_3217869.jpg) > ““\[John\] Adams saw clearly that politics is the indispensable foundation for things elegant and beautiful. First and above all else, you must secure life, liberty and the right to pursue your own happiness. That's politics done right, hard-earned, often by war.”” [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Politics must first guarantee fundamental freedoms before enabling higher aspirations, often through struggle and conflict. **In simple terms:** Secure basic freedoms before pursuing beauty. Key Takeaway Prioritize life, liberty, happiness. Themes politics freedom security beauty conflict Mood serious reflective Type philosophical political When to use this quote - government policy - civil rights movements - post‑war reconstruction - public health initiatives Key Concepts social contract human rights war ethics Questions to Reflect On - How do societies balance security with liberty? - When is war justified to protect freedoms? 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Trump is not so much of a team player.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brooks/clearly-politics-is-a-team-sport-trump-is-not-so-much-of-a-team-player/) [David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brooks/) > [For all the sublimity of art, physics, music, mathematics, and other manifestations of human genius, everything depends on the mundane, frustrating, often debased vocation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/for-all-the-sublimity-of-art-physics-music-mathematics-and-other/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [“Real happiness, in politics, is a wide-open hammer shot on some poor bastard who knows he's been trapped, but can't flee.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/real-happiness-in-politics-is-a-wide-open-hammer-shot-on-some-poor/) [Hunter S. 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That's my politics right there:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kid-rock/my-shows-aren-t-about-trying-to-save-some-place-because-i-don-t-feel/) [Kid Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kid-rock/) > [For the Left, Thanksgiving is about politics; for the Right, politics is about thanksgiving. The different approaches to holiday conversation come from opposing views…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-j-knowles/for-the-left-thanksgiving-is-about-politics-for-the-right-politics-is/) [Michael J. Knowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-j-knowles/) > [In politics there is no right answer - and no final answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-widdecombe/in-politics-there-is-no-right-answer-and-no-final-answer/) [Ann Widdecombe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-widdecombe/) > [My family has always said... if you're going to get into politics, do it for the right reasons, not because you've got to carry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-p-bush/my-family-has-always-said-if-you-re-going-to-get-into-politics-do-it/) [George P. 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You might have argued that in the thirties when conservatives opposed the New Deal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/the-conservative-idea-is-not-that-government-has-no-role-you-might/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [The war is not going well and it is time to say why. It has been fought with half-measures. It has been fought with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/the-war-is-not-going-well-and-it-is-time-to-say-why-it-has-been/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [“International stability is never a given. It is never the norm. 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Fail to keep them at bay, and everything burns.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/politics-is-the-moat-the-walls-beyond-which-lie-the-barbarians-fail/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [Don't touch my junk, you airport security goon--my package belongs to no one but me, and do you really think I'm a Nigerian nut…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/don-t-touch-my-junk-you-airport-security-goon-my-package-belongs-to/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [“The Russian Revolution and its imitators (Chinese, Cuban, Vietnamese, Cambodian) tried to atomize society so thoroughly--to war against the mediating structures that stand between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/the-russian-revolution-and-its-imitators-chinese-cuban-vietnamese/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [Where religion is trivialized, one is unlikely to find persecution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/where-religion-is-trivialized-one-is-unlikely-to-find-persecution/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [We must now brace ourselves for disquisitions on peer pressure, adolescent anomie, and rage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/we-must-now-brace-ourselves-for-disquisitions-on-peer-pressure/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [Post-Watergate morality, by which anything left private is taken as presumptive evidence of wrongdoing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/post-watergate-morality-by-which-anything-left-private-is-taken-as/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [“The largest threat to freedom, democracy, the market economy and prosperity,' warns Czech president Vaclav Klaus, 'is no longer socialism. It is, instead, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/the-largest-threat-to-freedom-democracy-the-market-economy-and/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) [Explore all 268 Charles Krauthammer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) ## More John adams quotes > [“As we look over the list of the early leaders of the republic, Washington, John Adams, Hamilton, and others, we discern that they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-truslow-adams/as-we-look-over-the-list-of-the-early-leaders-of-the-republic/) [James Truslow Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-truslow-adams/) > [My favorite Founding Fathers, Christians like John Adams, were absolutely appalled by slavery, and did not own slaves. I think we're going to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-coulter/my-favorite-founding-fathers-christians-like-john-adams-were/) [Ann Coulter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-coulter/) > [ Every answer he \[President John Adams\] gives to his addressers unmasks more and more his principles and views. His language to the young men… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/every-answer-he-president-john-adams-gives-to-his-addressers-unmasks/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [“You go on, I presume, with your latin Exercises: and I wish to hear of your beginning upon Sallust who is one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/you-go-on-i-presume-with-your-latin-exercises-and-i-wish-to-hear-of/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [ \[John\] Adams identified himself with the political theories of \[James\] Harrington, \[John\] Locke, and \[Charles-Louis\] Montesquieu, whose ideas of constitutionalism, he believed, were applicable… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-s-wood/john-adams-identified-himself-with-the-political-theories-of-james/) [Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-s-wood/) > [ \[John\] Adams was the best and most colorful stylist among the Founders. Although \[Tomas\] Jefferson is widely regarded as the smoothest writer, Adams is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-s-wood/john-adams-was-the-best-and-most-colorful-stylist-among-the-founders/) [Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-s-wood/) > [ By the time \[John Adams\] came to write his Defence of the Constitutions of the United States in 1787 he had as dark a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-s-wood/by-the-time-john-adams-came-to-write-his-defence-of-the-constitutions/) [Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-s-wood/) > [ By 1782 \[John Adams\] had come to feel for \[Benjamin\] Franklin "no other sentiments than Contempt or Abhorrence." ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-s-wood/by-1782-john-adams-had-come-to-feel-for-benjamin-franklin-no-other/) [Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-s-wood/) > [ I think \[John Adams\] developed a much deeper suspicion of France and the other European powers than he had earlier. He lost much if… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-s-wood/i-think-john-adams-developed-a-much-deeper-suspicion-of-france-and/) [Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-s-wood/) > [ \[John\] Adams never had an optimistic view of human nature, and his experience in the Congress and abroad only deepened his suspicion that his… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-s-wood/john-adams-never-had-an-optimistic-view-of-human-nature-and-his/) [Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-s-wood/) > [ The economic answer to the world's problems is John Adams, not \[Karl\] Marx. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ringo/the-economic-answer-to-the-world-s-problems-is-john-adams-not-karl/) [John Ringo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ringo/) > [When a friend of Abigail and John Adams was killed at Bunker Hill, Abigail's response was to write a letter to her husband and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mccullough/when-a-friend-of-abigail-and-john-adams-was-killed-at-bunker-hill/) [David McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mccullough/) > [ A mutual friend, Benjamin Rush, brought \[Tomas Jefferson and John Adams\] together in 1812, and they went on to exchange letters for the rest… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-s-wood/a-mutual-friend-benjamin-rush-brought-tomas-jefferson-and-john-adams/) [Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-s-wood/) > [“By their actions, the Founding Fathers made clear that their primary concern was religious freedom, not the advancement of a state religion. Individuals, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-t-lambert/by-their-actions-the-founding-fathers-made-clear-that-their-primary/) [Franklin T. Lambert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-t-lambert/) > [John Adams was a farmer, Abraham Lincoln a small town lawyer. Plato and Socrates were teachers. Jesus was a carpenter. To equate wisdom and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-sheppard/john-adams-was-a-farmer-abraham-lincoln-a-small-town-lawyer-plato-and/) [Mark Sheppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-sheppard/) [Browse all 127 John adams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/john-adams/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“[John] Adams saw clearly that politics is the indispensable foundation for things elegant and beautiful. First and above all else, you must secure life, liberty and the right to pursue your own happiness. 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