"A man has a property in his opinions and the free communication of them."
James MadisonTiny Panda Quotes
Quotes by James Madison
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"No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare."
James Madison"I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations."
James Madison"It is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad."
James Madison"If men were angels, no government would be necessary."
James Madison"The diversity in the faculties of men, from which the rights of property originate, is not less an insuperable obstacle to an uniformity of interests. The protection of these faculties is the first object of government."
James Madison"The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse."
James Madison"To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea."
James Madison"In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself."
James Madison"And I have no doubt that every new example will succeed, as every past one has done, in showing that religion and Government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together."
James Madison"A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce, or a tragedy, or perhaps both."
James Madison"The people are the only legitimate fountain of power, and it is from them that the constitutional charter, under which the several branches of government hold their power, is derived."
James Madison"The happy Union of these States is a wonder; their Constitution a miracle; their example the hope of Liberty throughout the world."
James Madison"The class of citizens who provide at once their own food and their own raiment, may be viewed as the most truly independent and happy."
James Madison"Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."
James Madison"The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty."
James Madison"The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted."
James Madison"It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood."
James Madison"The operations of the federal government will be most extensive and important in times of war and danger; those of the state governments, in times of peace and security."
James Madison"Where an excess of power prevails, property of no sort is duly respected. No man is safe in his opinions, his person, his faculties, or his possessions."
James Madison"Liberty may be endangered by the abuse of liberty, but also by the abuse of power."
James Madison"In Republics, the great danger is, that the majority may not sufficiently respect the rights of the minority."
James Madison"A pure democracy is a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person."
James Madison"The Constitution preserves the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation where the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms."
James Madison"Americans have the right and advantage of being armed - unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms."
James Madison