Quotes from John Adams

If "Thou shalt not covet," and "Thou shalt not steal," were not commandments of Heaven, they must be made inviolable precepts in every society, before it can be civilized or made free.

Each individual of the society has a right to be protected by it in the enjoyment of his life, liberty, and property, according to standing laws.

The divine science of government is the science of social happiness, and the blessings of society depend entirely on the constitutions of government.

Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

player: Can I reach it with a five iron? caddie: Eventually.

The right of a nation to kill a tyrant in case of necessity can no more be doubted than to hang a robber, or kill a flea.

Arms in the hands of citizens may be used at individual discretion... in private self-defense.

We cannot insure success, but we can deserve it.

Let frugality and industry be our virtues.

Had I been chosen President again, I am certain I could not have lived another year.

The Declaration of Independence I always considered as a theatrical show. Jefferson ran away with all the stage effect of that... and all the glory of it.

Before any great things are accomplished, a memorable change must be made in the system of education...to raise the lower ranks of society nearer to the higher.

I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy.

You have rights antecedent to all earthly governments; rights that cannot be repealed or restrained by human laws; right derived from the Great Legislator of the Universe

Grief drives men into habits of serious reflection, sharpens the understanding, and softens the heart

Be not intimidated, therefore, by any terrors, from publishing with the utmost freedom whatever can be warranted by the laws of your country; nor suffer yourselves to be wheedled out of your liberty by any pretenses of politeness, delicacy, or decency. These, as they are often used, are but three different names for hypocrisy, chicanery, and cowardice.

Laws for the liberal education of youth, especially for the lower classes of people, are so extremely wise and useful that to a humane and generous mind, no expense for this purpose would be thought extravagant.

Arms in the hands of citizens may be used at individual discretion... in private self-defense.

Books that cannot bear examination, certainly ought not to be established as divine inspiration by penal laws.

Democracy... while it lasts is more bloody than either aristocracy or monarchy. Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There is never a democracy that did not commit suicide.

Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the people.

The way to secure liberty is to place it in the people's hands, that is, to give them the power at all times to defend it in the legislature and in the courts of justice

It is more important that innocence be protected than it is that guilt be punished, for guilt and crimes are so frequent in this world that they cannot all be punished. But if innocence itself is brought to the bar and condemned, perhaps to die, then the citizen will say, 'whether I do good or whether I do evil is immaterial, for innocence itself is no protection,' and if such an idea as that were to take hold in the mind of the citizen that would be the end of security whatsoever.

Thanks to God that he gave me stubbornness when I know I am right.