James Madison Quotes:
What prudent merchant will hazard his fortunes in any new branch of commerce when he knows not that his plans may be rendered unlawful before they can be executed?
James Madison
The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted.
James Madison
If men were angels, no government would be necessary.
James Madison
A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained in arms, is the best most natural defense of a free country.
James Madison
The people are the only legitimate fountain of power, and it is from them that the constitutional charter, under which the several branches of government hold their power, is derived.
James Madison
No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.
James Madison
A pure democracy is a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person.
James Madison
The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse.
James Madison
I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.
James Madison
Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.
James Madison
The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.
James Madison
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.
James Madison
Of all the enemies of public liberty, war is perhaps the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other.
James Madison
The executive has no right, in any case, to decide the question, whether there is or is not cause for declaring war.
James Madison
Philosophy is common sense with big words.
James Madison
Union of religious sentiments begets a surprising confidence.
James Madison
A well-instructed people alone can be permanently a free people.
James Madison
Religion flourishes in greater purity, without than with the aid of Government.
James Madison
In no instance have… the churches been guardians of the liberties of the people.
James Madison
In Republics, the great danger is, that the majority may not sufficiently respect the rights of the minority.
James Madison
The happy Union of these States is a wonder; their Constitution a miracle; their example the hope of Liberty throughout the world.
James Madison
Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise, every expanded prospect.
James Madison
A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce, or a tragedy, or perhaps both.
James Madison
Each generation should be made to bear the burden of its own wars, instead of carrying them on, at the expense of other generations.
James Madison