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[I] never understood [what a republican government was and] I believe no other man ever did or ever will.

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
Government
Ever
Believe
Never
Men
Republican
Understood
America

More quotes by John Adams

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Religion and virtue are the only foundations, not of republicanism and of all free government, but of social felicity under all government and in all the combinations of human society.
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There are two ways to conquer and enslave a country. One is by the sword. The other is by debt.
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The only thing most people do better than anyone else is read their own handwriting.
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Because power corrupts, society's demands for moral authority and character increase as the importance of the position increases.
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All sober inquirers after truth, ancient and modern, pagan and Christian, have declared that the happiness of man, as well as his dignity, consists in virtue.
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One sailor will do us more good than two soldiers.
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Public virtue cannot exist in a nation without private, and public virtue is the only foundation of republics.
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One useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three is a Congress.
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This is my religion ... joy and exaltation in my own existence ... so go ahead and snarl ... bite ... howl, you Calvinistic divines and all you who say I am no Christian. I say you are not Christian.
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He is too illiterate, unread, unlearned for his station and reputation.
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Mankind will in time discover that unbridled majorities are as tyrannical and cruel as unlimited despots.
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Let us dare to read, think, speak and write.
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What havoc, said I to myself, would these manners make in America! Our governors, our judges, our senators or representatives, and even our ministers, would be appointed by harlots, for money and their judgments, decrees, and decisions, be sold to repay themselves, or, perhaps, to procure the smiles of profligate females.
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National defense is one of the cardinal duties of a statesman, and that there is an obligation to perform such a duty absolutely irrespective of party politics or factional differences.
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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.
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I do not like the reappearance of the Jesuits... Nevertheless, we are compelled by our system of religious toleration to offer them an asylum.
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Had I been chosen President again, I am certain I could not have lived another year.
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What is to become of an independent statesman, one who will bow the knee to no idol, who will worship nothing as a divinity but truth, virtue, and his country? I will tell you he will be regarded more by posterity than those who worship hounds and horses and although he will not make his own fortune, he will make the fortune of his country.
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Power in any Form . . . when directed only by human Wisdom and Benevolence is dangerous.
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If we take a survey of the greatest actions...in the world...we shall find the authors of them all to have been persons whose Brains had been shaken out of their natural position.
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