John Adams Quotes

"This mode of electioneering suited neither my taste nor my principles. I thought it equally unsuitable to my personal character and to the station in which I am placed."

"Education makes a greater difference between man and man than nature has made between man and brute."

"Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air."

"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."

"Old minds are like old horses; you must exercise them if you wish to keep them in working order"

"I knew I needed to tell this story ... and discovered the depth of my ignorance in doing so."

"Public virtue cannot exist in a nation without private, and public virtue is the only foundation of republics"

"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."

"Abuse of words has been the great instrument of sophistry and chicanery, of party, faction, and division of society."

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."

"All the public business in Congress now connects itself with intrigues, and there is great danger that the whole government will degenerate into a struggle of cabals"

"Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish."

"Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the people."

"There are two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live."

"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."

"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence."

"The essence of a free government consists in an effectual control of rivalries."

"Grief drives men into habits of serious reflection, sharpens the understanding, and softens the heart"

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

"If we do not lay out ourselves in the service of mankind whom should we serve?"