James Madison Quotes

The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.

Liberty may be endangered by the abuses of liberty as well as the abuses of power.

If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.

The means of defense against foreign danger have always been the instruments of tyranny at home.

Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.

To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms.

A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained in arms, is the best most natural defense of a free country.

The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse.

The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted.

If men were angels, no government would be necessary.

A pure democracy is not at all so favorable to the diffusion of the influence of individuals of wealth as the election of representatives.

Where an excess of power prevails, property of no sort is duly respected.

In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.

The executive has no right, in any case, to decide the question, whether there is or is not cause for declaring war.

James Madison Quotes part 2

Conscience is the most sacred of all property.

A people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.

If men were angels, no government would be necessary.

To suppose arms in the hands of citizens, to be used at individual discretion, except in private self-defense, or by partial orders of towns, countries or districts of a state, is to demolish every constitution, and lay the laws prostrate, so that liberty can be enjoyed by no man; it is a dissolution of the government.

It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood.

The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe in blood for centuries.

The people are the only legitimate fountain of power, and it is from them that the constitutional character, under which the several branches of government hold their power.

Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.

In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.

The people themselves, and not their servants, can safely reverse their own deliberate decisions.

Wherever the real power in a Government lies, there is the danger of oppression.

Philosophy is common sense with big words.

If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.

In selecting men for office, let principle be your guide.

Let me recommend the best medicine in the world: a long journey, at a mild season, through a pleasant country, in easy stages.

The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.

If Congress can employ money indefinitely to the general welfare, and are the sole and supreme judges of the general welfare, they may take the care of religion into their own hands; they may appoint teachers in every State, county, and parish, and pay them out of their public treasury.

The circulation of confidence is better than the circulation of money.

In time of actual war, great discretionary powers are constantly given to the Executive Magistrate. Constant apprehension of War, has the same tendency to render the head too large for the body. A standing military force, with an overgrown Executive will not long be safe companions to liberty. The means of defence against foreign danger, have been always the instruments of tyranny at home.

The essence of government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse.

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

The people are the only legitimate fountain of power, and it is from them that the constitutional character, under which the several branches of government hold their power, is returned.

To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea.

The steady character of our countrymen is a rock to which we may safely moor.

Wherever there is interest and power to do wrong, wrong will generally be done.

That is not a just government, nor is property secure under it, where arbitrary restrictions, exemptions, and monopolies deny to part of its citizens that free use of their faculties.

The purpose of government is to enable the people of a nation to live in safety and happiness. Government exists for the interests of the governed, not for the governors.

Justice is the end of government. It is the end of civil society.

If men were angels, no government would be necessary.

There is not a shadow of right in the general government to intermeddle with religion. Its least interference with it would be a most flagrant usurpation.

The right of freely examining public characters and measures, and of free communication among the people thereon, which has ever been justly deemed the only effectual guardian of every other right.

To cherish peace and friendly intercourse with all nations having correspondent dispositions.

It is the duty of every man to render to the Creator such homage and such only as he believes to be acceptable to him.

The fear of making the punishment of murder capital has prevailed to exclude from the code the punishment of every other injury to the person; and has induced judges, even in England, to extend the benefit of clergy to the crime of rape.

If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the general welfare, the Government is no longer a limited one, possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one.

A Government ought to contain in itself every power requisite to the full accomplishment of the objects committed to its care.