Quote

The frightful engines of ecclesiastical councils, of diabolical malice, and Calvinistical good-nature never failed to terrify me exceedingly whenever I thought of preaching.

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
Nature
Exceedingly
Thought
Malice
Good
Council
Never
Engines
Terrify
Preaching
Ecclesiastical
Failed
Councils
Whenever
Frightful
Atheism
Diabolical

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Human passions unbridled by morality and religion...would break the stronges cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net.
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The destiny of America is to carry the gospel of Jesus Christ to all men everywhere.
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There never was yet a people who must not have somebody or something to represent the dignity of the state, the majesty of the people, call it what you will - a doge, an avoyer, an archon, a president, a consul, a syndic this becomes at once an object of ambition and dispute, and, in time, of division, faction, sedition, and rebellion.
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I am a revolutionary, so my son can be a farmer, so his son can be a poet.
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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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As the safety and prosperity of nations ultimately and essentially depend on the protection and the blessing of Almighty God, and the national acknowledgment of this truth is not only an indispensable duty which the people owe to Him.
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What other form of government, indeed, can so well deserve our esteem and love?
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Borrowed eloquence, if it contains as good stuff, is as good as own eloquence
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Individuals have conquered themselves. Nations and large bodies of men, never.
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People and nations are forged in the fires of adversity.
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The idea of infidelity [a disbelief in the inspiration of the Scriptures or the divine origin of Christianity] cannot be treated with too much resentment or too much horror. The man who can think of it with patience is a traitor in his heart and ought to be execrated [denounced] as one who adds the deepest hypocrisy to the blackest treason.
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We shall, by and by, want a world of hemp more for our own consumption.
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A pen is certainly an excellent instrument to fix a man's attention and to inflame his ambition.
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When you see a good move, sit on your hands and find a better one.
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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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The numbers of men in all ages have preferred ease, slumber, and good cheer to liberty, when they have been in competition.
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[I] never understood [what a republican government was and] I believe no other man ever did or ever will.
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