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John Adams Quotes (126 quotes)

“The happiness of society is the end of government.”
―John Adams

Source/Notes:
Letter to George Wythe, April 1776

“Fear is the foundation of most governments; but it is so sordid and brutal a passion, and renders men in whose breasts it predominates so stupid and miserable, that Americans will not be likely to approve of any political institution which is founded on it.”
―John Adams

Source/Notes:
Thoughts on Government (1776)

“Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war.”
―John Adams

Source/Notes:
Letter to Abigail Adams, May, 1794

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

Source/Notes:
Letter (1814)

“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other.”
―John Adams

“The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.—I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires, and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”
―John Adams

Source/Notes:
Letter to Abigail Adams, 3 July 1776

“A desire to be observed, considered, esteemed, praised, beloved, and admired by his fellows is one of the earliest as well as the keenest dispositions discovered in the heart of man.”
―John Adams

Source/Notes:
Discourses on Davila: A Series of Papers on Political History, No. 4 Gazette of the United States (1790–1791). - Discourses on Davila (1790)

“Abuse of words has been the great instrument of sophistry and chicanery, of party, faction, and division of society.”
―John Adams

Source/Notes:
Letter to J.H. Tiffany (31 March 1819).

“Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the people.”
―John Adams

“Old minds are like old horses; you must exercise them if you wish to keep them in working order.”
―John Adams

“Power always thinks... that it is doing God's service when it is violating all his laws.”
―John Adams

“The Hebrews have done more to civilize men than any other nation. If I were an atheist, and believed blind eternal fate, I should still believe that fate had ordained the Jews to be the most essential instrument for civilizing the nations.”
―John Adams

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John Adams

Picture Source: Wikimedia Commons

John Adams

Born: October 30, 1735

Died: July 4, 1826 (aged 90)

Nationality: American

Bio: John Adams was the second president of the United States, having earlier served as the first vice president of the United States. An American Founding Father, Adams was a statesman, diplomat, and a leading advocate of American independence from Great Britain.

Founding Fathers

United States Presidents

Born on October 30

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