Background Image
...
Modesty Is A Virtue That Can Never Thrive In Public.
-John Adams
...
Please Wait....
Translating....

Modesty Is A Virtue

John Adams
...
Modesty Is A Virtue That Can Never Thrive In Public.

Understanding the Quote: "modesty is a virtue that can never thrive in public...."

This quote by John Adams reflects deeply on the theme of modesty. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Modesty, Virtue, Thrive, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how John Adams interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About John Adams

John Adams is celebrated for insightful thoughts on modesty and virtue. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

Views: 7116
Topic
Modesty
Virtue
Thrive
More From John Adams
Make Things Rather Than Persons The Subjects Of Conversations.
Conversation
Persons
Subjects
Grief Drives Men Into Habits Of Serious Reflection, Sharpens The Understanding, And Softens The Heart
Grief
Heart
Sadness
Had I Been Chosen President Again, I Am Certain I Could Not Have Lived Another Year.
Life
Years
President
The History Of Our Revolution Will Be One Continued Lye From One End To The Other. The Essence Of The Whole Will Be That Dr Franklins Electrical Rod, Smote The Earth And Out Spring General Washington. That Franklin Electrified Him With His Rod - And Thence Forward These Two Conducted All The Policy Negotiations Legislation And War.
Lying
War
Two
The Whole Drama Of The World Is Such Tragedy That I Am Weary Of The Spectacle.
Drama
Tragedy
World
Swim Or Sink, Live Or Die, Survive Or Perish With My Country Was My Unalterable Determination.
Country
Determination
Swim
Politics Are The Divine Science, After All.
Divine
We May Please Ourselves With The Prospect Of Free And Popular Governments. But There Is Great Danger That Those Governments Will Not Make Us Happy. God Grant They May. But I Fear That In Every Assembly, Members Will Obtain An Influence By Noise, Not Sense. By Meanness, Not Greatness. By Ignorance, Not Learning. By Contracted Hearts, Not Large Souls.
Heart
Ignorance
Greatness
One Sailor Will Do Us More Good Than Two Soldiers.
Two
Soldier
Sailor
We Should Begin By Setting Conscience Free. When All Men Of All Religions Shall Enjoy Equal Liberty, Property, And An Equal Chance For Honors And Power We May Expect That Improvements Will Be Made In The Human Character And The State Of Society.
Religious
Father
Character
When The Congress First Met, Mr. Cushing Made A Motion That It Should Be Opened With Prayer . . . Mr. Samuel Adams Arose And Said He Was No Bigot, And Could Hear A Prayer From A Gentleman Of Piety And Virtue, Who Was At The Same Time A Friend To His Country. He . . . Had Heard That Mr. Duche . . . Deserved That Character And Therefore He Moved That Mr. Duche . . . Might Be Desired To Read Prayers To The Congress . . . . After (he Read Several Prayers), Mr. Duche, Unexpected To Everybody, Struck Out Into An Extemporary Prayer, Which Filled The Bosom Of Every Man Present.
Country
Prayer
Character
Without Religion This World Would Be Something Not Fit To Be Mentioned In Polite Company, I Mean Hell.
Religious
Mean
Would Be
He Is Too Illiterate, Unread, Unlearned For His Station And Reputation.
Government
Reputation
Illiterate
The Question Before The Human Race Is, Whether The God Of Nature Shall Govern The World By His Own Laws, Or Whether Priests And Kings Shall Rule It By Fictitious Miracles?
Kings
Race
Faith Religion
What Havoc Has Been Made Of Books Through Every Century Of The Christian Era? Where Are Fifty Gospels, Condemned As Spurious By The Bull Of Pope Gelasius? Where Are The Forty Wagon-loads Of Hebrew Manuscripts Burned In France, By Order Of Another Pope, Because Suspected Of Heresy? Remember The 'index Expurgatorius', The Inquisition, The Stake, The Axe, The Halter And The Guillotine.
Christian
Book
Order
The Declaration Of Independence Laid The Cornerstone Of Human Government Upon The First Precepts Of Christianity.
Bible
God
Religious
Twenty Times, In The Course Of My Late Reading, Have I Been On The Point Of Breaking Out, 'this Would Be The Best Of All Possible Worlds, If There Were No Religion In It!' But In This Exclamation, I Should Have Been As Fanatical As Bryant Or Cleverly. Without Religion, This World Would Be Something Not Fit To Be Mentioned In Public Company-i Mean Hell.
Reading
Mean
Should Have
Modesty Is A Virtue That Can Never Thrive In Public.
Modesty
Virtue
Thrive
When Public Virtue Is Gone, When The National Spirit Is Fled The Republic Is Lost In Essence, Though It May Still Exist In Form
Essence
Gone
Republic
Suppose A Nation In Some Distant Region Should Take The Bible For Their Only Law Book, And Every Member Should Regulate His Conduct By The Precepts There Exhibited. What A Utopia! What A Paradise This Region Would Be.
Religious
Book
Law
Property Must Be Secured, Or Liberty Cannot Exist.
Liberty
Patriot
Property
Each Individual Of The Society Has A Right To Be Protected By It In The Enjoyment Of His Life, Liberty, And Property, According To Standing Laws.
Law
Liberty
Individual
The Whole People Must Take Upon Themselves The Education Of The Whole People, And Must Be Willing To Bear The Expenses Of It. There Should Not Be A District Of One Mile Square, Without A School In It, Not Founded By A Charitable Individual, But Maintained At The Public Expense Of The People Themselves.
Education
School
Squares
It Is The Duty Of All Men In Society, Publicly, And At Stated Seasons, To Worship The Supreme Being, The Great Creator And Preserver Of The Universe. And No Subject Shall Be Hurt, Molested, Or Restrained, In His Person, Liberty, Or Estate, For Worshipping God In The Manner Most Agreeable To The Dictates Of His Own Conscience; Or For His Religious Profession Or Sentiments; Provided He Doth Not Disturb The Public Peace, Or Obstruct Others In Their Religious Worship.
God
Religious
Hurt
Have You Considered That System Of Holy Lies And Pious Frauds That Has Raged And Triumphed For 1,500 Years?
Lying
Years
Founding Fathers Religion
Men Must Be Ready, They Must Pride Themselves And Be Happy To Sacrifice Their Private Pleasures, Passions And Interests, Nay, Their Private Friendships And Dearest Connections, When They Stand In Competition With The Rights Of Society.
Passion
Pride
Sacrifice
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.
Real
Government
Balance
A Single Assembly Is Liable To All The Vices, Follies, And Frailties Of An Individual; Subject To Fits Of Humor, Starts Of Passion, Flights Of Enthusiasm, Partialities, Or Prejudice, And Consequently Productive Of Hasty Results And Absurd Judgments. And All These Errors Ought To Be Corrected And Defects Supplied By Some Controlling Power.
Passion
Errors
Prejudice
I Sometimes, In My Sprightly Moments, Consider Myself, In My Great Chair At School, As Some Dictator At The Head Of A Commonwealth. In This Little State I Can Discover All The Great Geniuses, All The Surprising Actions And Revolutions Of The Great World In Miniature. I Have Several Renowned Generals But Three Feet High, And Several Deep-projecting Politicians In Petticoats. I Have Others Catching And Dissecting Flies, Accumulating Remarkable Pebbles, Cockleshells, Etc., With As Ardent Curiosity As Any Virtuoso In The Royal Society.
School
Knowledge
Feet
I Would Define Liberty To Be A Power To Do As We Would Be Done By. The Definition Of Liberty To Be The Power Of Doing Whatever The Law Permits, Meaning The Civil Laws, Does Not Seem Satisfactory.
Law
Liberty
Doe
Government Has No Right To Hurt A Hair Of The Head Of An Atheist, For His Opinions. Let Him Have A Care Of His Practices.
Hurt
Atheist
Hair
But Before Any Great Things Are Accomplished, A Memorable Change Must Be Made In The System Of Education And Knowledge Must Become So General As To Raise The Lower Ranks Of Society Nearer To The Higher. The Education Of A Nation, Instead Of Being Confined To A Few Schools & Universities, For The Instruction Of The Few, Must Become The National Care And Expence, For The Information Of The Many.
Education
Money
Memorable
Neither My Father Or Mother, Grandfather Or Grandmother, Great Grandfather Or Great Grandmother, Nor Any Other Relation That I Know Of, Or Care A Farthing For, Has Been In England These One Hundred And Fifty Years; So That You See I Have Not One Drop Of Blood In My Veins But What Is American.
Mother
Father
Blood
The United States Is Not A Christian Nation Any More Than It Is A Jewish Or A Mohammedan Nation.
Christian
Religion
United States
While All Other Sciences Have Advanced, That Of Government Is At A Standstill - Little Better Understood, Little Better Practiced Now Than Three Or Four Thousand Years Ago.
Government
Years
Political
The Constitution Is ...the Greatest Single Effort Of National Deliberation That The World Has Ever Seen
Effort
World
Constitution
Mystery Is Made A Convenient Cover For Absurdity.
Atheist
Jesus
Faith Religion
I Have Examined All Religions, As Well As My Narrow Sphere, My Straightened Means, And My Busy Life, Would Allow; And The Result Is That The Bible Is The Best Book In The World. It Contains More Philosophy Than All The Libraries I Have Seen.
Philosophy
Book
Mean
As Unbalanced Parties Of Every Description Can Never Tolerate A Free Inquiry Of Any Kind, When Employed Against Themselves, The License, And Even The Most Temperate Freedom Of The Press, Soon Excite Resentment And Revenge.
Revenge
Party
Inquiry
My Country Has Contrived For Me The Most Insignificant Office That Ever The Invention Of Man Contrived Or His Imagination Conceived.
Country
Men
History
The Truth Is That Neither Then Nor At Any Former Time, Since I Had Attained My Maturity In Age, Reading And Reflection Had I Imbibed Any General Prejudice Against Kings, Or In Favour Of Them. It Appeared To Me Then As It Has Done Ever Since, That There Is A State Of Society In Which A Republican Government Is The Best, And In America The Only One.
Kings
Reading
Maturity
There Is But One Element Of Government, And That Is The People. From This Element Spring All Governments. "for A Nation To Be Free, It Is Only Necessary That She Wills It." For A Nation To Be Slave, It Is Only Necessary That She Wills It.
Spring
Government
People
This Is A Revolution, Damn It! We're Going To Have To Offend Somebody!
Animal
Revolution
Animal Rights
Resistance To Sudden Violence, For The Preservation Not Only Of My Person, My Limbs, And Life, But Of My Property, Is An Indisputable Right Of Nature Which I Have Never Surrendered To The Public By The Compact Of Society, And Which Perhaps, I Could Not Surrender If I Would.
Life
Nature
Gun
As To The History Of The Revolution, My Ideas May Be Peculiar, Perhaps Singular. What Do We Mean By The Revolution? The War? That Was No Part Of The Revolution; It Was Only An Effect And Consequence Of It. The Revolution Was In The Minds Of The People, And This Was Effected From 1760 To 1775, In The Course Of Fifteen Years, Before A Drop Of Blood Was Shed At Lexington.
War
Mean
Ideas
Before God, I Believe The Hour Has Come. My Judgment Approves This Measure, And My Whole Heart Is In It. All That I Have, And All That I Am, And All That I Hope In This Life, I Am Now Ready Here To Stake Upon It. And I Leave Off As I Began, That Live Or Die, Survive Or Perish, I Am For The Declaration. It Is My Living Sentiment, And By The Blessing Of God It Shall Be My Dying Sentiment. Independence Now, And Independence For Ever!
Believe
Heart
Blessing
A Lawyer Once Told A Jury That The Person His Client Stood Accused Of Having Killed Was About To Walk Through The Courtroom Door. When The Jurors Looked Startled, The Lawyer Asserted That If Those Jurors Had Wondered, Even For One Second That The Victim Might Appear, That Belief Constituted Enough Reasonable Doubt For Them To Find His Client Innocent.
Doors
Law
Doubt
Let The Human Mind Loose. It Must Be Loose. It Will Be Loose. Superstition And Dogmatism Cannot Confine It.
Education
Mind
Superstitions
The People, When They Have Been Unchecked, Have Been As Unjust, Tyrannical, Brutal, Barbarous, And Cruel, As Any King Or Senate Possessed Of Uncontrollable Power. The Majority Has Eternally, And Without One Exception, Usurped Over The Rights Of The Minority.
Kings
Rights
People
I Never Engaged In Public Affairs For My Own Interest, Pleasure, Envy, Jealousy, Avarice Or Ambition, Or Even The Desire Of Fame
Jealousy
Ambition
Envy
If The Christian Religion, As I Understand It, Or As You Understand It, Should Maintain Its Ground, As I Believe It Will, Yet Platonic, Pythagoric, Hindoo, And Cabalistical Christianity, Which Is Catholic Christianity, And Which Has Prevailed For 1500 Years, Has Received A Mortal Wound, Of Which The Monster Must Finally Die. Yet So Strong Is His Constitution, That He May Endure For Centuries Before He Expires.
Christian
Strong
Believe
As Long As Property Exists, It Will Accumulate In Individuals And Families. As Long As Marriage Exists, Knowledge, Property And Influence Will Accumulate In Families.
Family
Long
Influence
Human Nature Itself Is Evermore An Advocate For Liberty. There Is Also In Human Nature A Resentment Of Injury, And Indignation Against Wrong. A Love Of Truth And A Veneration Of Virtue. These Amiable Passions, Are The "latent Spark" . . . If The People Are Capable Of Understanding, Seeing And Feeling The Differences Between True And False, Right And Wrong, Virtue And Vice, To What Better Principle Can The Friends Of Mankind Apply Than To The Sense Of This Difference?
Passion
Differences
People
The Study And Practice Of Law ... Does Not Dissolve The Obligations Of Morality Or Of Religion.
Law
Practice
Doe
Conclude Not From All This That I Have Renounced The Christian Religion. . . . Far From It. I See In Every Page Something To Recommend Christianity In Its Purity, And Something To Discredit Its Corruptions. . . . The Ten Commandments And The Sermon On The Mount Contain My Religion.
Christian
Religion
Pages
I Always Consider The Settlement Of America With Reverence And Wonder, As The Opening Of A Grand Scene And Design In Providence, For The Illumination Of The Ignorant And The Emancipation Of The Slavish Part Of Mankind All Over The Earth.
4th Of July
Patriotic
Illumination
Borrowed Eloquence, If It Contains As Good Stuff, Is As Good As Own Eloquence
Stuff
Eloquence
Borrowing
Farther I Could Find It In My Heart To Wish That You Had Been At The Head Of A Hundred Thousand Israelites . . . & Marching With Them Into Judea & Making A Conquest Of That Country & Restoring Your Nation To The Dominion Of It. For I Really Wish The Jews Again In Judea An Independent Nation.
Country
Independent
Heart
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.
Bible
God
Religious
All Great Changes Are Irksome To The Human Mind, Especially Those Which Are Attended With Great Dangers And Uncertain Effects.
Political
Mind
Politics
Virtue Is Not Always Amiable.
Virtue
Humankind
Amiable
The General Principles On Which The Fathers Achieved Independence Were The General Principles Of Christianity
Father
Independence
Principles
[you Have Rights] Antecedent To All Earthly Governments: Rights, That Cannot Be Repealed Or Restrained By Human Laws; Rights, Derived From The Great Legislator Of The Universe.
Rights
Government
Law
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.
Patriotic
Heart
Men
I Am A Revolutionary, So My Son Can Be A Farmer, So His Son Can Be A Poet.
Son
Revolutionary
Poet
It Will Be Celebrated... With Pomp And Parade... Bonfires And Illuminations From One End Of This Continent To The Other.
4th Of July
Illumination
Parades
The Arts And Sciences, In General, During The Three Or Four Last Centuries, Have Had A Regular Course Of Progressive Improvement. The Inventions In Mechanic Arts, The Discoveries In Natural Philosophy, Navigation And Commerce, And The Advancement Of Civilization And Humanity, Have Occasioned Changes In The Condition Of The World And The Human Character Which Would Have Astonished The Most Refined Nations Of Antiquity. A Continuation Of Similar Exertions Is Everyday Rendering Europe More And More Like One Community, Or Single Family.
Art
Philosophy
Character
Liberty, According To My Metaphysics Is A Self-determining Power In An Intellectual Agent. It Implies Thought And Choice And Power.
Freedom
Power
Self
The Right Of A Nation To Kill A Tyrant, In Cases Of Necessity, Can No More Be Doubted, Than To Hang A Robber, Or Kill A Flea. But Killing One Tyrant Only Makes Way For Worse, Unless The People Have Sense, Spirit And Honesty Enough To Establish And Support A Constitution Guarded At All Points Against The Tyranny Of The One, The Few, And The Many.
Honesty
Tyrants
People
If It Be The Pleasure Of Heaven That My Country Shall Require The Poor Offering Of My Life, The Victim Shall Be Ready, At The Appointed Hour Of Sacrifice, Come When That Hour May. But While I Do Live, Let Me Have A Country, And That A Free Country!
Country
Sacrifice
Offering
There Is No Greater Guilt Than The Unneccessary War.
War
Guilt
Greater
Thomas Jefferson Survives.
Life
Death
Life And Death
Suppose A Nation, Rich And Poor, High And Low, Ten Millions In Number, All Assembled Together; Not More Than One Or Two Millions Will Have Lands, Houses, Or Any Personal Property; If We Take Into The Account The Women And Children, Or Even If We Leave Them Out Of The Question, A Great Majority Of Every Nation Is Wholly Destitute Of Property, Except A Small Quantity Of Clothes, And A Few Trifles Of Other Movables.
Children
Land
Two
In Politics The Middle Way Is None At All.
Success
Law
Nerd
By My Physical Constitution I Am But An Ordinary Man ... Yet Some Great Events, Some Cutting Expressions, Some Mean Hypocracies, Have At Times Thrown This Assemblage Of Sloth, Sleep, And Littleness Into Rage Like A Lion.
Mean
Sleep
Cutting
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.
Party
Differences
Voting
The Form Of Government Which You Admire, When Its Principles Are Pure Is Admirable Indeed. It Is Productive Of Every Thing Which Is Great And Excellent Among Men. But Its Principles Are As Easily Destroyed As Human Nature Is Corrupted. Such A Government Is Only To Be Supported By Pure Religion Or Austere Morals.
Men
Religion
Principles
The Holy Ghost Carries On The Whole Christian System In This Earth. Not A Baptism, Not A Marriage, Not A Sacrament Can Be Administered But By The Holy Ghost... There Is No Authority Civil Or Religious: There Can Be No Legitimate Government But What Is Administered By This Holy Ghost. There Can Be No Salvation Without It. All, Without It Is Rebellion And Perdition, Or In More Orthodox Words Damnation.
Christian
Religious
Government
Mankind Will In Time Discover That Unbridled Majorities Are As Tyrannical And Cruel As Unlimited Despots.
Libertarian Party
Liberty
Majority
The Fundamental Law Of The Militia Is, That It Be Created, Directed And Commanded By The Laws, And Ever For The Support Of The Laws.
Law
Support
Second Amendment
The Furnace Of Affliction Produces Refinement In States As Well As Individuals. And The New Governments We Are Assuming In Every Part Will Require A Purification From Our Vices, And An Augmentation Of Our Virtues, Or There Will Be No Blessings.
Blessing
Government
Vices
Ideology Is The Science Of Idiots.
Idiot
Ideology
When Legislature Is Corrupted, The People Are Undone.
People
Undone
Legislature
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.
Country
Horse
Independent
The Foundations Of National Morality Must Be Laid In Private Families.
Foundation
Morality
...cities May Be Rebuilt, And A People Reduced To Poverty, May Acquire Fresh Property: But A Constitution Of Government Once Changed From Freedom, Can Never Be Restored. Liberty Once Lost Is Lost Forever. When The People Once Surrendered Their Share In The Legislature, And Their Right Of Defending The Limitations Upon The Government, And Of Resisting Every Encroachment Upon Them, They Can Never Regain It.
Government
Cities
People
I Will Insist The Hebrews Have [contributed] More To Civilize Men Than Any Other Nation. If I Was An Atheist And Believed In Blind Eternal Fate, I Should Still Believe That Fate Had Ordained The Jews To Be The Most Essential Instrument For Civilizing The Nations. They Are The Most Glorious Nation That Ever Inhabited This Earth. The Romans And Their Empire Were But A Bubble In Comparison To The Jews. They Have Given Religion To Three-quarters Of The Globe And Have Influenced The Affairs Of Mankind More And More Happily Than Any Other Nation, Ancient Or Modern.
Atheist
Believe
Fate
[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.
Art
Freedom
Men
Thanks Be To God, That He Gave Me Stubborness, When I Know I Am Right.
Thanks
Knows
I Was Very Strenuous For Retaining And Insisting On It [law Of Nature], As A Resource To Which We Might Be Driven By Parliament Much Sooner Than We Were Aware.
Law
Might
Revolution
Objects Of The Most Stupendous Magnitude, And Measure In Which The Lives And Liberties Of Millions Yet Unborn Are Intimately Interested, Are Now Before Us. We Are In The Very Midst Of A Revolution The Most Complete, Unexpected And Remarkable Of Any In The History Of Nations.
Liberty
Revolution
Unexpected
But All Provisions That He (god) Has Made For The Gratification Of Our Senses…are Much Inferior To The Provision, The Wonderful Provision That He Has Made For The Gratification Of Our Nobler Powers Of Intelligence And Reason. He Has Given Us Reason To Find Out The Truth, And The Real Design And True End Of Our Existence.
Real
Design
Wonderful
The Law No Passion Can Disturb. 'tis Void Of Desire And Fear, Lust And Anger. 'tis Mens Sine Affectu, Written Reason, Retaining Some Measure Of The Divine Perfection. It Does Not Enjoin That Which Pleases A Weak, Frail Man, But, Without Any Regard To Persons, Commands That Which Is Good And Punishes Evil In All, Whether Rich Or Poor, High Or Low.
Passion
Men
Law
But How Has It Happened That Millions Of Fables, Tales, Legends Have Been Blended With Both Jewish And Christian Revelation That Have Made Them The Most Bloody Religion That Ever Existed?
Christian
Religious
Faith Religion
Ambition Is One Of The Ungovernable Passions Of The Human Heart. The Love Of Power Is Insatiable And Uncontrollable.
Passion
Heart
Ambition
There Are Persons Whom In My Heart I Despise, Others I Abhor. Yet I Am Not Obliged To Inform The One Of My Contempt, Nor The Other Of My Detestation. This Kind Of Dissimulation...is A Necessary Branch Of Wisdom, And So Far From Being Immoral...that It Is A Duty And A Virtue.
Heart
Branches
Kind
I Desire No Other Inscription Over My Gravestone Than: 'here Lies John Adams, Who Took Upon Himself The Responsibility Of Peace With France In The Year 1800'.
Lying
Responsibility
Years
By The Former Of These (canon Law), The Most Refined, Sublime, Extensive, And Astonishing Constitution Of Policy That Ever Was Conceived By The Mind Of Man Was Framed By The Romish Clergy For The Aggrandizement Of Their Own Order.
Men
Order
Law
Every Measure Of Prudence, Therefore, Ought To Be Assumed For The Eventual Total Extirpation Of Slavery From The United States ... I Have, Throughout My Whole Life, Held The Practice Of Slavery In ... Abhorrence.
Practice
United States
Slavery
The Consequences Arising From The Continual Accumulation Of Public Debts In Other Countries Ought To Admonish Us To Prevent Their Growth In Our Own.
Country
Government
Growth
The People "have A Right, An Indisputable, Unalienable, Indefeasible, Divine Right To That Most Dreaded And Envied Kind Of Knowledge- I Mean Of The Character And Conduct Of Their Rulers."
Character
Mean
Divine Right
It Is Weakness Rather Than Wickedness Which Renders Men Unfit To Be Trusted With Unlimited Power.
Men
Presidential
Weakness
The Only Foundation Of A Free Constitution, Is Pure Virtue, And If This Cannot Be Inspired Into Our People, In A Great Measure, Than They Have It Now. They May Change Their Rulers, And The Forms Of Government, But They Will Not Obtain A Lasting Liberty.
Government
People
Liberty
Elections To Office, Which Are The Great Objects Of Ambition, I Look At With Terror!
Ambition
Office
Revolution
The Public Negotiations And Secret Intrigues Of The English (jews) And The French (jews) Have Been Employed For Centuries In Every Court And Country In Europe. Look Back To The History Of Spain, Holland, Germany, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Prussia, Italy And Turkey For The Last Hundred Years...all The Power Of Europe Will Be Continually Maneuvering With Us To Work Us Into The Real Or Imaginary Balance Of Power.
Country
Real
Turkeys
It Is Folly To Anticipate Evils, And Madness To Create Imaginary Ones.
Evil
Madness
Folly
The General Principles On Which The Fathers Achieved Independence Were The General Principles Of Christianity. I Will Avow That I Then Believed, And Now Believe, That Those General Principles Of Christianity Are As Eternal And Immutable As The Existence And Attributes Of God.
Bible
God
Religious
A Government Of Laws, And Not Of Men.
Men
Law
Presidential
[i]t Is Religion And Morality Alone Which Can Establish The Principles Upon Which Freedom Can Securely Stand. The Only Foundation Of A Free Constitution Is Pure Virtue.
Liberty
Foundation
Principles
Because Power Corrupts, Society's Demands For Moral Authority And Character Increase As The Importance Of The Position Increases.
Leadership
Character
Persistence
Let The Pulpit Resound With The Doctrines And Sentiments Of Religious Liberty... Let Us Hear The Dignity Of His [man's] Nature, And The Noble Rank He Holds Among The Works Of God... Let It Be Known, That British Liberties Are Not The Grants Of Princes Or Parliaments.
Religious
Men
Liberty
Negro Slavery Is An Evil Of Colossal Magnitude. I Am Therefore Utterly Averse To The Admission Of Slavery Into The Missouri Territory, And Heartily Wish That Every Constitutional Measure May Be Adopted For The Preservation Of It.
Evil
Slavery
Territory
Let Them Revere Nothing But Religion, Morality And Liberty.
Liberty
Morality
Founding Fathers Religion
My History Of The Jesuits Is Not Elegantly Written, But Is Supported By Unquestionable Authorities, Is Very Particular And Very Horrible. Their Restoration Is Indeed "a Step Toward Darkness," Cruelty, Perfidy, Despotism, Death And I Wish We Were Out Of Danger Of Bigotry And Jesuitism.
Darkness
Historical
Wish
We Have No Constitution Which Functions In The Absence Of A Moral People
People
Moral
Constitution
A Native Of America Who Cannot Read Or Write Is . . . As Rare As A Comet Or An Earthquake.
Education
Writing
America
The Balance Of Power In A Society Accompanies The Balance Of Property In Land.
Land
Balance
Accompany
In Vain Are Schools, Academies, And Universities Instituted, If Loose Principles And Licentious Habits Are Impressed Upon Children In Their Earliest Years . . . . The Vices And Examples Of The Parents Cannot Be Concealed From The Children. How Is It Possible That Children Can Have Any Just Sense Of The Sacred Obligations Of Morality Or Religion If, From Their Earliest Infancy, They Learn Their Mothers Live In Habitual Infidelity To Their Fathers, And Their Fathers In As Constant Infidelity To Their Mothers.
Education
Mother
Children
We Shall, By And By, Want A World Of Hemp More For Our Own Consumption.
Weed
Marijuana
World
The Christian Religion As I Understand It Is The Best.
Christian
Religious
No Good Government But What Is Republican... The Very Definition Of A Republic Is 'an Empire Of Laws, And Not Of Men.'
Men
Law
America
There Is No Good Government But What Is Republican. That The Only Valuable Part Of The British Constitution Is So; For The True Idea Of A Republic Is "an Empire Of Laws, And Not Of Men." That, As A Republic Is The Best Of Governments, So That Particular Arrangement Of The Powers Of Society, Or In Other Words, That Form Of Government Which Is Best Contrived To Secure An Impartial And Exact Execution Of The Law, Is The Best Of Republics.
Men
Law
Ideas
I Shall Have The Liberty To Think For Myself.
Thinking
Liberty
If Worthless Men Are Sometimes At The Head Of Affairs, It Is, I Believe, Because Worthless Men Are At The Tail And The Middle
Believe
Men
Tails
The Dons, The Bashaws, The Grandees, The Patricians, The Sachems, The Nabobs, Call Them By What Names You Please, Sigh And Groan And Fret, And Sometimes Stamp And Foam And Curse, But All In Vain. The Decree Is Gone Forth, And It Cannot Be Recalled, That A More Equal Liberty Than Has Prevailed In Other Parts Of The Earth Must Be Established In America.
Names
America
Liberty
Individuals Have Conquered Themselves. Nations And Large Bodies Of Men, Never.
Men
Democracies Have
Body
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)
Children
Philosophy
War
Always Stand On Principle Even If You Stand Alone.
Principles
Politics
Stand Alone
As The Government Of The United States Is Not, In Any Sense, Founded On The Christian Religion; As It Has In Itself No Character Of Enmity Against The Laws, Religion Or Tranquility Of Musselmen [muslims] ... It Is Declared ... That No Pretext Arising From Religious Opinion Shall Ever Product An Interruption Of The Harmony Existing Between The Two Countries.... The United States Is Not A Christian Nation Any More Than It Is A Jewish Or A Mohammedan Nation.
Christian
Country
Religious
The Church Of Rome Has Made It An Article Of Faith That No Man Can Be Saved Out Of Their Church, And All Other Religious Sects Approach This Dreadful Opinion In Proportion To Their Ignorance, And The Influence Of Ignorant Or Wicked Priests.
Religious
Ignorance
Men
Public Business Must Always Be Done By Somebody. It Will Be Done By Somebody Or Other. If Wise Man Decline, Others Will Not; If Honest Man Refuse It, Others Will Not.
Wise
Men
Done
There Are Only Two Creatures Of Value On The Face Of The Earth: Those With The Commitment, And Those Who Require The Commitment Of Others.
Commitment
Two
Earth
The Essence Of A Free Government Consists In An Effectual Control Of Rivalries.
Government
Essence
Political
We Hold That Each Man Is The Best Judge Of His Own Interest.
Men
Judging
Interest
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.
Hands
Political
Citizens
The Consequences Of These Institutions (the Towns Or Districts, The Congregations, The Schools,and The Militia.) Have Been, That The Inhabitants, Having Acquired From Their Infancy The Habit Of Discussing, Of Deliberating, And Of Judging Of Public Affairs, It Was In These Assemblies Of Towns Or Districts That The Sentiments Of The People Were Formed In The First Place, And Their Resolutions Were Taken From The Beginning To The End Of The Disputes And The War With Great Britain.
Education
War
Taken
Property Is Surely A Right Of Mankind As Real As Liberty. Perhaps, At First, Prejudice, Habit, Shame Or Fear, Principle Or Religion, Would Restrain The Poor From Attacking The Rich, And The Idle From Usurping On The Industrious; But The Time Would Not Be Long Before Courage And Enterprise Would Come, And Pretexts Be Invented By Degrees, To Countenance The Majority In Dividing All The Property Among Them, Or At Least, In Sharing It Equally With Its Present Possessors.
Real
Long
Liberty
Politics Are A Labyrinth Without A Clue.
Political
Labyrinth
Politics
Power In Any Form . . . When Directed Only By Human Wisdom And Benevolence Is Dangerous.
Human Nature
Form
Dangerous
The Declaration Of Independence I Always Considered As A Theatrical Show. Jefferson Ran Away With All The Stage Effect Of That... And All The Glory Of It.
Political
Independence
Glory
The National Defense Is One Of The Cardinal Duties Of A Statesman.
Defense
Cardinals
Duty
There Exists, I Believe, Throughout The Whole Christian World, A Law Which Makes It Blasphemy To Deny Or Doubt The Divine Inspiration Of All The Books Of The Old And New Testaments, From Genesis To Revelations. In Most Countries Of Europe It Is Punished By Fire At The Stake, Or The Rack, Or The Wheel... Now, What Free Inquiry, When A Writer Must Surely Encounter The Risk Of Fine Or Imprisonment For Adducing Any Argument For Investigating The Divine Authority Of Those Books?
Christian
Country
Inspiration
Negro Slavery Is An Evil Of Colossal Magnitude.
Evil
Slavery
Magnitude
We Should Be Unfaithful To Ourselves If We Should Ever Lose Sight Of The Danger To Our Liberties If Anything Partial Or Extraneous Should Infect The Purity Of Our Free, Fair, Virtuous, And Independent Elections. If An Election Is To Be Determined By A Majority Of A Single Vote, And That Can Be Procured By A Party Through Artifice Or Corruption, The Government May Be The Choice Of A Party For Its Own Ends, Not Of The Nation For The National Good.
Party
Independent
Government
Honor Is Truly Sacred, But Holds A Lower Rank In The Scale Of Moral Excellence Than Virtue. Indeed The Former Is Part Of The Latter, And Consequently Has Not Equal Pretensions To Support A Frame Of Government Productive Of Human Happiness.
Government
Support
Honor
The Divine Science Of Government Is The Science Of Social Happiness, And The Blessings Of Society Depend Entirely On The Constitutions Of Government.
Blessing
Government
Constitution
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.
Teacher
Teaching
Memorable
Thus, Experience Has Ever Shown, That Education, As Well As Religion, Aristocracy, As Well As Democracy And Monarchy, Are, Singly, Totally Inadequate To The Business Of Restraining The Passions Of Men, Of Preserving A Steady Government, And Protecting The Lives, Liberties, And Properties Of The People . . . . Religion, Superstition, Oaths, Education, Laws, All Give Way Before Passions, Interest, And Power, Which Can Be Resisted Only By Passions, Interest, And Power.
Passion
Men
Law
There Are Two Ways To Conquer And Enslave A Country. One Is By The Sword. The Other Is By Debt.
Country
Two
Debt
The Real Fabric Of American Society Is Not All Those Flags You See On People's Cars...it's In The Bill Of Rights And In Our Constitutional Form Of Government.
Peace
Real
War
The Deliberate Union Of So Great And Various A People In Such A Place, Is Without All Partiality Or Prejudice, If Not The Greatest Exertion Of Human Understanding, The Greatest Single Effort Of National Deliberation That The World Has Ever Seen.
People
Effort
Understanding
Property Must Be Secured Or Liberty Cannot Exist. But If Unlimited Or Unbalanced Power Of Disposing Property, Be Put Into The Hands Of Those Who Have No Property, France Will Find, As We Have Found, The Lamb Committed To The Custody Of The World. In Such A Case, All The Pathetic Exhortations And Addresses Of The National Assembly To The People, To Respect Property, Will Be Regarded No More Than The Warbles Of The Songsters Of The Forest.
Hands
People
Liberty
An Honest, Sensible, Humane Man, . . . Laboring To Do Good Rather Than Be Rich, To Be Useful Rather Than Make A Show, Living In Modest Simplicity . . . Is Really The Most Respectable Man In Society, [and] Makes Himself And All About Him Most Happy.
Money
Men
Simplicity
If "thou Shalt Not Covet," And "thou Shalt Not Steal," Were Not Commandments Of Heaven, They Must Be Made Inviolable Precepts In Every Society, Before It Can Be Civilized Or Made Free.
Heaven
Politics
Stealing
Where Annual Elections End, There Slavery Begins ... Humility, Patience, And Moderation, Without Which Every Man In Power Becomes A Ravenous Beast Of Prey.
Humility
Men
Political
Children Should Be Educated And Instructed In The Principles Of Freedom. Aristotle Speaks Plainly To This Purpose, Saying, 'that The Institution Of Youth Should Be Accommodated To That Form Of Government Under Which They Live; Forasmuch As It Makes Exceedingly For The Preservation Of The Present Government, Whatsoever It Be.
Children
Government
Principles
The Good Of The Governed Is The End, And Rewards And Punishments Are The Means, Of All Government. The Government Of The Supreme And All-perfect Mind, Over All His Intellectual Creation, Is By Proportioning Rewards To Piety And Virtue, And Punishments To Disobedience And Vice. ... The Joys Of Heaven Are Prepared, And The Horrors Of Hell In A Future State, To Render The Moral Government Of The Universe Perfect And Complete. Human Government Is More Or Less Perfect, As It Approaches Nearer Or Diverges Further From An Imitation Of This Perfect Plan Of Divine And Moral Government.
Mean
Punishment
Government
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.
Kings
Law
Rights
It Already Appears, That There Must Be In Every Society Of Men Superiors And Inferiors, Because God Has Laid In The Constitution And Course Of Nature The Foundations Of The Distinction.
Men
People
Foundation
I Must Study War And Politics So That My Children Shall Be Free To Study Commerce, Agriculture And Other Practicalities, So That Their Children Can Study Painting, Poetry And Other Fine Things.
Children
War
Agriculture
That The Said Constitution Shall Never Be Construed To Authorize Congress To Infringe The Just Liberty Of The Press Or The Rights Of Conscience.
Gun
Rights
Second Amendment
If There Is Ever An Amelioration Of The Condition Of Mankind, Philosophers, Theologians, Legislators, Politicians And Moralists Will Find That The Regulation Of The Press Is The Most Difficult, Dangerous And Important Problem They Have To Resolve. Mankind Cannot Now Be Governed Without It, Nor At Present With It.
Important
Regulation
Philosopher
It Would Be An Absurdity For Jurors To Be Required To Accept The Judge's View Of The Law, Against Their Own Opinion, Judgment, And Conscience.
Views
Law
Judging
It May Be The Will Of Heaven That America Shall Suffer Calamities Still More Wasting, And Distresses Yet More Dreadful. If This Is To Be The Case, It Will Have The Good Effect At Least. It Will Inspire Us With Many Virtues, Which We Have Not, And Correct Many Errors, Follies And Vices. But I Must Submit All My Hopes And Fears To An Overruling Providence, In Which, Unfashionable As The Faith May Be, I Firmly Believe.
Believe
America
Errors
Those Who Trade Liberty For Security Have Neither.
Liberty
Libertarian
Pro Gun
Our Whole System Of Banks Is A Violation Of Every Honest Principle Of Banks. There Is No Honest Bank But A Bank Of Deposit. A Bank That Issues Paper At Interest Is A Pickpocket Or A Robber. But The Delusion Will Have Its Course. ... An Aristocracy Is Growing Out Of Them That Will Be As Fatal As The Feudal Barons If Unchecked In Time.
Issues
Principles
Aristocracy
I Wish I Could Lay Down Beside Her And Die Too.
Wish
Lays
Dies
If My Superiors Shall Permit Me To Come Home, I Hope It Will Be Soon; If They Mean I Should Stay Abroad, I Am Not Able To Say What I Shall Do, Until I Know In What Capacity. One Thing Is Certain, That I Will Not Live Long Without My Family.
Family
Home
Mean
In General, Our Generals Were Outgeneralled.
Peace
War
As The Happiness Of The People Is The Sole End Of Government, So The Consent Of The People Is The Only Foundation Of It.
Government
People
Foundation
When I Was Young, And Addicted To Reading, I Had Heard About Dancing On The Points Of Metaphysical Needles; But, By Mixing In The World, I Found The Points Of Political Needles Finer And Sharper Than The Metaphysical Ones.
Dance
Reading
Dancing
I Am Determined To Control Events, Not Be Controlled By Them.
Events
Determined
Virtue
The Happiness Of Society Is The End Of Government.
Happiness
Government
Presidential
Public Virtue Cannot Exist In A Nation Without Private, And Public Virtue Is The Only Foundation Of Republics.
Government
Liberty
Foundation
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.
Inspirational
Brain
World
I Almost Shudder At The Thought Of Alluding To The Most Fatal Example Of The Abuses Of Grief Which The History Of Mankind Has Preserved - The Cross. Consider What Calamities That Engine Of Grief Has Produced!
Grief
Faith Religion
Historical
There Never Was Yet A People Who Must Not Have Somebody Or Something To Represent The Dignity Of The State.
Government
People
Dignity
Tom, Had You And I Been 40 Days With Moses, And Beheld The Great God, And Even If God Himself Had Tried To Tell Us That Three Was One ... And One Equals Three, You And I Would Never Have Believed It. We Would Never Fall Victims To Such Lies.
Lying
Fall
Religion
. . . Thirteen Governments [of The Original States] Thus Founded On The Natural Authority Of The People Alone, Without A Pretence Of Miracle Or Mystery, And Which Are Destined To Spread Over The Northern Part Of That Whole Quarter Of The Globe, Are A Great Point Gained In Favor Of The Rights Of Mankind.
Religious
Father
Rights
People And Nations Are Forged In The Fires Of Adversity.
Adversity
Fire
People
When We Say God Is A Spirit, We Know What We Mean, As Well As We Do When We Say That The Pyramids Of Egypt Are Matter. Let Us Be Content, Therefore, To Believe Him To Be A Spirit, That Is, An Essence That We Know Nothing Of, In Which Originally And Necessarily Reside All Energy, All Power, All Capacity, All Activity, All Wisdom, All Goodness.
Believe
Mean
Egypt
Rulers Are No More Than Attorneys, Agents, And Trustees, For The People; And If The Cause, The Interest And Trust, Is Insidiously Betrayed, Or Wantonly Trifled Away, The People Have A Right To Revoke The Authority That They Themselves Have Deputed, And To Constitute Abler And Better Agents, Attorneys, And Trustees.
People
Agents
Betrayed
I Request That They May Be Considered In Confidence, Until The Members Of Congress Are Fully Possessed Of Their Contents, And Shall Have Had Opportunity To Deliberate On The Consequences Of Their Publication; After Which Time, I Submit Them To Your Wisdom.
Wisdom
Opportunity
May
That The Desires Of The Majority Of The People Are Often For Injustice And Inhumanity Against The Minority, Is Demonstrated By Every Page Of The History Of The World.
People
Democracy
Desire
Remember, Democracy Never Lasts Long. It Soon Wastes, Exhausts, And Murders Itself. There Never Was A Democracy Yet That Did Not Commit Suicide.
Suicide
Freedom
Suicidal
My Best Wishes, In The Joys, And Festivities, And The Solemn Services Of That Day On Which Will Be Completed The Fiftieth Year From Its Birth, The Independence Of The United States. A Remarkable Epoch In The Annals Of The Human Race, Destined In Future History To Form The Brightest Or The Blackest Page, According To The Use Or The Abuse Of Those Political Institutions By Which They Shall, In Time To Come, Be Shaped By The Human Mind.
Memorable
Race
Years
When You See A Good Move, Sit On Your Hands And Find A Better One.
Moving
Hands
Chess
The Most Sensible And Jealous People Are So Little Attentive To Government That There Are No Instances Of Resistance Until Repeated, Multiplied Oppressions Have Placed It Beyond A Doubt That Their Rulers Had Formed Settled Plans To Deprive Them Of Their Liberties; Not To Oppress An Individual Or A Few, But To Break Down The Fences Of A Free Constitution, And Deprive The People At Large Of All Share In The Government, And All The Checks By Which It Is Limited.
Jealous
Government
People
[j]udges, Therefore, Should Be Always Men Of Learning And Experience In The Laws, Of Exemplary Morals, Great Patience, Calmness, Coolness, And Attention. Their Minds Should Not Be Distracted With Jarring Interests; They Should Not Be Dependent Upon Any Man, Or Body Of Men.
Character
Men
Law
But What Do We Mean By The American Revolution? Do We Mean The American War? The Revolution Was Effected Before The War Commenced. The Revolution Was In The Minds And Hearts Of The People; A Change In Their Religious Sentiments, Of Their Duties And Obligations ... This Radical Change In The Principles, Opinions, Sentiments, And Affections Of The People Was The Real American Revolution.
Religious
Real
War
It Is Much Easier To Pull Down A Government, In Such A Conjuncture Of Affairs As We Have Seen, Than To Build Up, At Such A Season As The Present.
Government
Democracy
Affair
Admire And Adore The Author Of The Telescopic Universe, Love And Esteem The Work, Do All In Your Power To Lessen Ill, And Increase Good, But Never Assume To Comprehend.
Assuming
Never Assume
Increase
A Pen Is Certainly An Excellent Instrument To Fix A Man's Attention And To Inflame His Ambition.
Ambition
Men
Presidential
Wisdom And Knowledge, As Well As Virtue, Diffused Generally Among The Body Of The People Being Necessary For The Preservation Of Their Rights And Liberties; And As These Depend On Spreading The Opportunities And Advantages Of Education In Various Parts Of The Country, And Among The Different Orders Of The People, It Shall Be The Duty Of Legislators And Magistrates In All Future Periods Of This Commonwealth To Cherish The Interests Of Literature And The Sciences.
Graduation
Country
Opportunity
Upon This Point All Speculative Politicians Will Agree, That The Happiness Of Society Is The End Of Government, As All Divines And Moral Philosophers Will Agree That The Happiness Of The Individual Is The End Of Man. From This Principle It Will Follow That The Form Of Government Which Communicates Ease, Comfort, Security, Or, In One Word, Happiness, To The Greatest Numbers Of Persons, And In The Greatest Degree, Is The Best. 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.
Christian
Men
Numbers
Here Is Everything Which Can Lay Hold Of The Eye, Ear And Imagination - Everything Which Can Charm And Bewitch The Simple And Ignorant. I Wonder How Luther Ever Broke The Spell.
Eye
Simple
Imagination
Several Country Towns, Within My Observation, Have At Least A Dozen Taverns. Here The Time, The Money, The Health And The Modesty, Of Most That Are Young And Of Many Old, Are Wasted. Here Diseases, Vicious Habits, Bastards And Legislators Are Frequently Spawned.
Country
Taverns
Dozen
The Rich, The Well-born, And The Able, Acquire An Influence Among The People That Will Soon Be Too Much For Simple Honesty And Plain Sense, In A House Of Representatives. The Most Illustrious Of Them Must, Therefore, Be Separated From The Mass, And Placed By Themselves In A Senate; This Is, To All Honest And Useful Intents, An Ostracism.
Honesty
Simple
People
America Is Destined To Be Peopled By One Nation, Speaking One Language, Professing One General System Of Religious And Political Principles, And Accustomed To One General Tenor Of Social Usages And Customs.
Religious
America
Political
The United States Of America Have Exhibited, Perhaps, The First Example Of Governments Erected On The Simple Principles Of Nature. . . . [in] The Formation Of The American Governments . . . It Will Never Be Pretended That Any Persons Employed In That Service Had Interviews With The Gods, Or Were In Any Degree Under The Influence Of Heaven. . . . These Governments Were Contrived Merely By The Use Of Reason And The Senses.
Simple
Government
America
Trending Author
Tom Arnold
Ben Nicholson
Ziggy Marley
Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Cynthia Ozick
Tori Amos
Category
Information