John Adams Quotes

A collection of quotes by John Adams.

John Adams was an American statesman and Founding Father who played a prominent role in the early years of the United States. He was born on October 30, 1735, in Braintree, Massachusetts, and grew up on a family farm. Adams graduated from Harvard College in 1755 and became a lawyer.

As a fervent advocate for American independence, Adams was a key figure in the American Revolution. He played a crucial role in the drafting of the Declaration of Independence and served as a diplomat in Europe during the war. After the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783, he helped negotiate favorable terms for the new nation.

Adams went on to serve as the first Vice President (1789-1797) under President George Washington. In 1797, he was elected as the second President of the United States and served one term (1797-1801). During his presidency, Adams faced challenges including strained relations with France, political divisions within his own party, and the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts, which severely limited free speech.

Despite these difficulties, Adams is often admired for his steadfast commitment to the principles of the American Revolution and his advocacy for a strong central government. He was instrumental in laying the foundation for the presidency and the principles of separation of powers. John Adams passed away on July 4, 1826, the same day as his fellow Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, leaving behind a lasting legacy as one of America's early leaders.

Here is everything which can lay hold of the eye, ear and im

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.

All the perplexities, confusions, and distresses in America

All the perplexities, confusions, and distresses in America arise, not from defects in their constitution or confederation, not from a want of honor or virtue, so much as from downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit, and circulation.

Fear is the foundation of most governments.

Fear is the foundation of most governments.

When people talk of the freedom of writing, speaking or thin

When people talk of the freedom of writing, speaking or thinking I cannot choose but laugh. No such thing ever existed. No such thing now exists but I hope it will exist. But it must be hundreds of years after you and I shall write and speak no more.

The arts and sciences, in general, during the three or four

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.

Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war.

Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war.

Because power corrupts, society's demands for moral authorit

Because power corrupts, society's demands for moral authority and character increase as the importance of the position increases.

Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among

Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the people.

While all other sciences have advanced, that of government i

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.

My country has contrived for me the most insignificant offic

My country has contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived.

Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhaus

Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide. The jaws of power are always open to devour, and her arm is always stretched out, if possible, to destroy the freedom of thinking, speaking, and writing. Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the People, who have... a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge, I mean the characters and conduct of their rulers. There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free 'government' ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty. Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among people.

Genius is sorrow's child.

Genius is sorrow's child.

A government of laws, and not of men.

A government of laws, and not of men.

I must not write a word to you about politics, because you a

I must not write a word to you about politics, because you are a woman.

There are only two creatures of value on the face of the ear

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.

The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epoc

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.

I Pray Heaven to Bestow The Best of Blessing on THIS HOUSE,

I Pray Heaven to Bestow The Best of Blessing on THIS HOUSE, and on All that shall hereafter Inhabit it. May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof!

You say that at the time of the Congress, in 1765, The great

You say that at the time of the Congress, in 1765, The great mass of the people were zealous in the cause of America. The great mass of the people is an expression that deserves analysis. New York and Pennsylvania were so nearly divided, if their propensity was not against us, that if New England on one side and Virginia on the other had not kept them in awe, they would have joined the British. Marshall, in his life of Washington, tells us, that the southern States were nearly equally divided. Look into the Journals of Congress, and you will see how seditious, how near rebellion were several counties of New York, and how much trouble we had to compose them. The last contest, in the town of Boston, in 1775, between whig and tory, was decided by five against two. Upon the whole, if we allow two thirds of the people to have been with us in the revolution, is not the allowance ample? Are not two thirds of the nation now with the administration? Divided we ever have been, and ever must be. Two thirds always had and will have more difficulty to struggle with the one third than with all our foreign enemies.

As much as I converse with sages and heroes, they have very

As much as I converse with sages and heroes, they have very little of my love and admiration. I long for rural and domestic scene, for the warbling of birds and the prattling of my children

But America is a great, unwieldy Body. Its Progress must be

But America is a great, unwieldy Body. Its Progress must be slow. It is like a large Fleet sailing under Convoy. The fleetest Sailors must wait for the dullest and slowest. Like a Coach and sixthe swiftest Horses must be slackened and the slowest quickened, that all may keep an even Pace.