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If there is a form of government, then, whose principle and foundation is virtue, will not every sober man acknowledge it better calculated to promote the general happiness than any other form?

John Adams

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John Adams
Age: 90 †
Born: 1735
Born: October 19
Died: 1826
Died: July 4
2Nd U.S. President
Diplomat
Lawyer
Political Philosopher
Politician
Statesperson
Braintree
Massachusetts
President Adams
J. Adams
President John Adams
Happiness
Sober
Form
Acknowledge
Government
Principle
Better
Foundation
Every
General
Men
Whose
Principles
Calculated
Virtue
Promote

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We hold that each man is the best judge of his own interest.
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The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity
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Liberty can no more exist without virtue and independence than the body can live and move without a soul.
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In politics the middle way is none at all.
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I Pray Heaven to bestow the best of blessing on this house, and on ALL that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof!
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The rights of Englishmen are derived from God, not from king or Parliament, and would be secured by the study of history, law, and tradition.
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When economic power became concentrated in a few hands, then political power flowed to those possessors and away from the citizens, ultimately resulting in an oligarchy or tyranny.
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Always stand on principle even if you stand alone.
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The fundamental article of my political creed is that despotism, or limited sovereignty, or absolute power is the same [whether] in a majority of a popular assembly an aristocratic council or oligarchical junto and a single emperor - equally arbitrary, cruel, bloody and in every respect diabolical.
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Posterity! You will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom! I hope you will make a good use of it.
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[T]he liberty, the unalienable, indefeasible rights of men, the honor and dignity of human nature, the grandeur and glory of the public, and the universal happiness of individuals, were never so skillfully and successfully consulted as in that most excellent monument of human art, the common law of England.
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It is folly to anticipate evils, and madness to create imaginary ones.
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If the multitude is possessed of the balance of real estate, the multitude will have the balance of power, and in that case the multitude will take care of the liberty, virtue, and interest of the multitude in all acts of government.
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He is too illiterate, unread, unlearned for his station and reputation.
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Thomas Jefferson survives.
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I must not write a word to you about politics, because you are a woman.
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The appearance of religion only on Sunday proves that it is only an appearance.
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We shall, by and by, want a world of hemp more for our own consumption.
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I have accepted a seat in the House of Representatives, and thereby have consented to my own ruin, to your ruin, and to the ruin of our children. I give you this warning that you may prepare your mind for your fate.
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