James Madison

"What spectacle can be more edifying or more seasonable than seeing the representatives of a free people investigating the duties of one of the great departments of government."

"It is a memorable fact that the Northwest Ordinance was the only measure on which we were unanimous."

"The Union of the States is the basis of their collective and individual happiness."

"The truth is that all nations undervalue the relative force of military establishments."

"The accumulation of power and the consolidation of authority are the inevitable tendencies of political systems."

"In a government like ours it is the duty of individuals to be interested in the laws and in the administration of public affairs."

"A standing military force will always menace the public liberty."

"The true source of the wealth of nations is the people and their labor."

"The better the intellect is cultivated, the more it appreciates the inadequacy of its knowledge."

"When the Almighty created the earth He gave it to the whole human race equally."

"It is the fate of those who toil at the oar to have their hands blistered and their backs bent."

"The greatest improvement of the human mind is the art of teaching others to teach."

"The true test of the excellence of any government is its aptitude and tendency to make the people happy and prosperous."

"The fabric of American empire ought to rest on the solid foundation of the consent of the people."

"Happily the Constitution itself is to be tested and tried by its fruits."

"The people possess the power, yet the government possesses the sword."

"Learned hand has aptly said that no government can be trusted without being bound by chains."

"The crisis of the Union seemed to demand a healing remedy."

"A change in the Constitution is neither easy nor wise in cases not clearly within its scope."

"Our country is too large to have all its important concerns decided by a single legislature."

"The success of any government is to be measured by the happiness it produces."

"Men love power and will seek to aggrandize themselves."

"The public interest requires the suppression of luxury and the display of opulence."

"A republic presupposes the virtue of its members."

"Public opinion sets bounds to every government and is the real sovereign in every free one."

"The foundation of national policy must be laid in the principles of private morality."

"The rights of conscience cannot in any manner be submitted to the civil magistrate."

"Wherever religion is excluded, human nature tends toward perdition."

"Commerce between master and slave is despotism."

"The human mind is capable of comprehending much more than any single institution can teach."