James Madison Quotes

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

All power in human hands is liable to be abused.

No error is more certain than the one proceeding from a hasty and superficial view of the subject.

The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home.

Resistance to tyranny is service to God.

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

Americans have the right and advantage of being armed - unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.

Americans need not fear the federal government because they enjoy the advantage of being armed, which you possess over the people of almost every other nation.

The very definition of tyranny is when all powers are gathered under one place.

Each generation should be made to bear the burden of its own wars, instead of carrying them on, at the expense of other generations.

Cursed be all that learning that is contrary to the cross of Christ.

Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government.

Democracy was the right of the people to choose their own tyrant.

Our Constitution represents the work of the finger of Almighty God.

No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.

We are right to take alarm at the first experiment upon our liberties.

Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm.

Armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few.

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

The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the state shall not be questioned.

A President is impeachable if he attempts to subvert the Constitution.

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

If man is not fit to govern himself, how can he be fit to govern someone else?

Disarm the people- that is the best and most effective way to enslave them.

If our nation is ever taken over, it will be taken over from within.

The purpose of the Constitution is to restrict the majority's ability to harm a minority.

Crisis is the rallying cry of the tyrant.

Oppressors can tyrannize only when they achieve a standing army, an enslaved press, and a disarmed populace.