America Quote by Gordon S. Wood
![“[Benjamin] Franklin may be a great philosopher, [John Adams] told his diary in 1779, but "as a Legislator in America he has done very little."” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/696/gordon-s-wood-13199_america_benjamin-franklin-may-be-a-great-philoso_1884498.jpg)
“[Benjamin] Franklin may be a great philosopher, [John Adams] told his diary in 1779, but "as a Legislator in America he has done very little."”
About This Quote
Source Diary: John Adams, 1779, personal journal
Franklin excelled as a thinker but contributed little as a lawmaker in early America.
In simple terms: Franklin was a great thinker but a weak legislator.
Key Takeaway
Recognize different strengths in roles.
Themes
politics
leadership
history
philosophy
Mood
reflective
analytical
Type
historical
political
When to use this quote
- government service
- policy making
- historical analysis
Key Concepts
Republicanism
civic duty
intellectual legacy
Questions to Reflect On
- How do we evaluate historical figures by ideas versus actions?
- Can a thinker influence politics without holding office?
A Different Perspective
His philosophical impact may outweigh legislative achievements.
![“By 1782 [John Adams] had come to feel for [Benjamin] Franklin "no other sentiments than Contempt or Abhorrence."” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/91d/gordon-s-wood-13199_abhorrence_by-1782-john-adams-had-come-to-feel-for_357591.jpg)
![“[John's Adams] description of [Benjamin] Franklin in a letter to [his wife] Abigail in 1775 is laudatory. Only when he experiences all the adulation paid to Franklin in Paris does he begin to change his tune.” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/775/gordon-s-wood-13199_abigail_john-s-adams-description-of-benjamin-fra_1471899.jpg)
![“[John] Adams never hid his jealousy and resentment of the other Founders, especially Benjamin Franklin.” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/53f/gordon-s-wood-13199_founders_john-adams-never-hid-his-jealousy-and-re_1886761.jpg)
![“By the time [John Adams] came to write his Defence of the Constitutions of the United States in 1787 he had as dark a view of the American character as that of any critic in our history.” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d41/gordon-s-wood-13199_american-character_by-the-time-john-adams-came-to-write-his_314115.jpg)
![“[ Massachusetts constitution] was [John Adams] attempt to justify that structure by the traditional notion of social estates - that the executive represented the monarchical estate, the senate the aristocratic estate, and the house of representatives the estate of the people.” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f9d/gordon-s-wood-13199_aristocratic_massachusetts-constitution-was-john-adam_2289325.jpg)
![“[John Adams] always felt that his contribution to bringing about independence went unappreciated, especially after the 1790s when [Tomas] Jefferson began to be lauded as the "author" of the Declaration of Independence.” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/5be/gordon-s-wood-13199_books_john-adams-always-felt-that-his-contribu_2260931.jpg)
![“[John Adams] diary, of course, is even more revealing of his feelings. Both his letters to [his wife] Abigail and his diary tell us what he really thinks about people and events.” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d8d/gordon-s-wood-13199_abigail_john-adams-diary-of-course-is-even-more_1971371.jpg)
![“Americans, [John Adams] wrote in 1780, believed that their "revolution is as much for the benefit of the generality of Mankind in Europe, as for their own."” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/678/gordon-s-wood-13199_benefits_americans-john-adams-wrote-in-1780-belie_1953074.jpg)
![“[John Adams's] vividly descriptive prose is supremely quotable. Adams wears his heart on his sleeve and reveals all of his ambitions, doubts, and insecurities, especially in his diary, which is one of the greatest and most readable in all of American literature.” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/52f/gordon-s-wood-13199_ambition_john-adams-s-vividly-descriptive-prose-i_1856135.jpg)
![“[John Adams] is impressed with [Tomas] Jefferson's learning, but noted his silence during the debates in the Congress: "I never heard him utter three Sentences together."” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/77f/gordon-s-wood-13199_congress_john-adams-is-impressed-with-tomas-jeffe_1569958.jpg)
![“[John Adams] experience with the French philosophers only convinced him further of the need for a bicameral legislature representing the two principal social orders and, equally important, an independent executive.” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/e8f/gordon-s-wood-13199_convinced_john-adams-experience-with-the-french-ph_1365435.jpg)
![“Deeply versed in history, [John Adams] said over and over that America had no special providence, no special role in history, that Americans were no different from other peoples, that the United States was just as susceptible to viciousness and corruption as any other nation. In this regard, at…” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f0d/gordon-s-wood-13199_america_deeply-versed-in-history-john-adams-said_940303.jpg)
![“[The Massachusetts constitution] resembles the federal Constitution of 1787 more closely than any of the other revolutionary state constitutions. It was also drawn up by a special convention, and it provided for popular ratification - practices that were followed by the drafters of the federal…” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ebc/gordon-s-wood-13199_constitution_the-massachusetts-constitution-resembles_34263.jpg)
![“[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 to all peoples everywhere; they were his contribution to what he called "the divine science of politics."” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/c71/gordon-s-wood-13199_constitutionalism_john-adams-identified-himself-with-the-p_226327.jpg)
![“[John] Adams was the best and most colorful stylist among the Founders. Although [Tomas] Jefferson is widely regarded as the smoothest writer, Adams is by far the most engaging and imaginative.” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/782/gordon-s-wood-13199_colorful_john-adams-was-the-best-and-most-colorfu_244163.jpg)
![“Creating senates, the French critics said, implied that there was another social order besides the people represented in the houses of representatives. [John] Adams actually agreed with that implication and argued that the aristocracy and the people had to have separate houses; this was the only…” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/9a7/gordon-s-wood-13199_aristocracy_creating-senates-the-french-critics-said_349374.jpg)
![“I think [John Adams] developed a much deeper suspicion of France and the other European powers than he had earlier. He lost much if not all of the utopian thinking about international politics and diplomacy expressed in his Model Treaty of 1776 and became much more cynical about the world.” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ccc/gordon-s-wood-13199_cynical_i-think-john-adams-developed-a-much-deep_372770.jpg)
![“[John] Adams never had an optimistic view of human nature, and his experience in the Congress and abroad only deepened his suspicion that his fellow Americans might not have the character to sustain a republican government.” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/4dc/gordon-s-wood-13199_adams_john-adams-never-had-an-optimistic-view_386009.jpg)
![“A mutual friend, Benjamin Rush, brought [Tomas Jefferson and John Adams] together in 1812, and they went on to exchange letters for the rest of their lives. But in their correspondence they tended to avoid the most controversial issues, such as slavery.” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/be3/gordon-s-wood-13199_controversial_a-mutual-friend-benjamin-rush-brought-to_487463.jpg)
![“I'll smoke, I'll cough, I'll get the tumors, I'll die, deal? Thank you America. [salutes]” quote by Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/3d2/bill-hicks-970_america_i-ll-smoke-i-ll-cough-i-ll-get-the-tumor_655.jpg)
