John Adams > Quotes

“Let us dare to read, think, speak and write.”
― John Adams

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

“There are two types of education... One should teach us how to make a living, And the other how to live.”
― John Adams

“I read my eyes out and can't read half enough...the more one reads the more one sees we have to read.”
― John Adams

“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”
― John Adams

“I must study Politicks and War that my sons may have liberty to study Mathematicks and Philosophy. My sons ought to study Mathematicks and Philosophy, Geography, natural History, Naval Architecture, navigation, Commerce and Agriculture, in order to give their Children a right to study Painting, Poetry, Musick, Architecture, Statuary, Tapestry and Porcelaine. (12 May 1780)”
― John Adams

“Posterity! You will never know how much it cost the present Generation to preserve your Freedom! I hope you will make good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven, that I ever took half the Pains to preserve it.”
― John Adams

“But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.”
― John Adams

“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.”
― John Adams

“The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.”
― John Adams

“There are two ways to conquer and enslave a country. One is by the sword. The other is by debt.”
― John Adams

“Always stand on principle....even if you stand alone.
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― John Adams

“Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There was never a democracy that did not commit suicide.”
― John Adams

“Daughter! Get you an honest man for a husband, and keep him honest. No matter whether he is rich, provided he be independent. Regard the honor and moral character of the man more than all other circumstances. Think of no other greatness but that of the soul, no other riches but those of the heart. An honest, sensible, humane man, above all the littleness of vanity and extravagances of imagination, laboring to do good rather than be rich, to be useful rather than make a show, living in modest simplicity clearly within his means and free from debts and obligations, is really the most respectable man in society, makes himself and all about him most happy.”
― John Adams

“Thanks to God that he gave me stubborness when I know I am right.”
― John Adams

“The longer I live, the more I read, the more patiently I think, and the more anxiously I inquire, the less I seem to know...Do justly. Love mercy. Walk humbly [with your God]. This is enough.”
― John Adams

“Power must never be trusted without a check.”
― John Adams

“Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom.”
― John Adams

“I must judge for myself, but how can I judge, how can any man judge, unless his mind has been opened and enlarged by reading.”
― John Adams

“To be good, and to do good, is all we have to do.”
― John Adams

“Let us tenderly and kindly cherish therefore, the means of knowledge. Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write.”
― John Adams

“I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is a disgrace, that two become a lawfirm, and that three or more become a congress.”
― John Adams

“You will ever remember that all the end of study is to make you a good man and a useful citizen.”
― John Adams

“Let the human mind loose. It must be loose. It will be loose. Superstition and dogmatism cannot confine it.”
― John Adams

“Fear is the foundation of most governments.”
― John Adams

“This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it.”
― John Adams

“And then Franklin smote the ground and up rose George Washington, fully dressed and astride a horse! Then the three of them, Franklin, Washington and the HORSE, proceeded to win the entire revolution single handley!”
― John Adams

“You will never be alone with a poet in your pocket.”
― John Adams

“The only thing most people do better than anyone else is read their own handwriting.”
― John Adams

“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.”
― John Adams