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[I]t is the reason alone, of the public, that ought to control and regulate the government.

James Madison

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James Madison
Age: 85 †
Born: 1751
Born: March 16
Died: 1836
Died: June 28
4Th U.S. President
Diplomat
Lawyer
Philosopher
Politician
Slaveholder
Statesperson
Writer
Port Conway
Virginia
James Madison
Jr.
President Madison
J. Madison
Madison
Reason
Regulate
Ought
Control
Public
Alone
Government

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A standing army is one of the greatest mischief that can possibly happen.
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The advice nearest to my heart and deepest in my convictions is that the Union of the States be cherished and perpetuated.
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[Restraints on the press] in all ages, have debauched morals, depressed liberty, shackled religion, supported despotism, and deluged the scaffold with blood.
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What spectacle can be more edifying or more seasonable, than that of Liberty and Learning, each leaning on the other for their mutual and surest support?
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Oppressors can tyrannize only when they achieve a standing army, an enslaved press, and a disarmed populace.
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Public opinion sets bounds to every government, and is the real sovereign in every free one.
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Knowledge will forever govern ignorance and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.
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The religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man and it is the right of every man to exercise it as these may dictate.
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In all great changes of established governments, forms ought to give way to substance
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The essence of Government is power and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse.
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The people can never willfully betray their own interests: But they may possibly be betrayed by the representatives of the people and the danger will be evidently greater where the whole legislative trust is lodged in the hands of one body of men, than where the concurrence of separate and dissimilar bodies is required in every public act.
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These considerations and many others that might be mentioned prove, and experience confirms it, that artisans and manufacturers will commonly be disposed to bestow their votes on merchants.
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It is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity toward each other.
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The regulation of these various and interfering interests forms the principal task of modern legislation and involves the spirit of party and faction in the necessary and ordinary operations of government.
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I have ever regarded the freedom of religious opinions and worship as equally belonging to every sect.
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Power is of an encroaching nature.
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It is the duty of every man to render to the Creator such homage...Before any man can be considered as a member of Civil Society, he must be considered as a subject of the Governor of the Universe.
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Our Constitution represents the work of the finger of Almighty God.
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