James Madison

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

"I feel myself obligated to pursue the path of duty and to the best of my ability to fulfill my trust."

"If there had been in the room a powerful man with whom I could talk freely, I would have asked him to join me."

"Wisdom is to be gathered from every source that can contribute to our knowledge."

"There is a degree of depravity in mankind which requires a certain degree of circumspection and distrust."

"The inference to which we are led is that the causes of faction are sown in the nature of man."

"All communities divide themselves into the few and the many. The first are the rich and well-born, the other the mass of the people."

"What prudent lord of the land would meet his obligations with so few hands to labor."

"The very foundation of the Constitution rests upon the principle of free individual action."

"Philosophers of all periods have attempted to explain the principles of good government."

"The liberty of the press is essential to the security of freedom in a state."

"A tyranny may govern by terror and severity, but a free government can endure only by virtue and moderation."

"Every new and successful example of a perfect toleration of religious opinions is of value."

"Without God there would be no government, no law, and no justice."

"The love of money is the root of all evil, and yet it is such a useful root that we cannot get rid of it any more than we can rid ourselves of potatoes."

"The true keys to a better future are always found in the past."

"The security of the American people depends as much on their virtue as their arms."

"Popular government without popular information is but a prologue to a tragedy."

"The people who make up a society shape the destiny of that society through the choices they make."

"The strongest passions of men are often tempered by the love of money."

"In the republican form of government, the legislative, executive and judicial powers are forever separated."

"The preservation of sacred fire of liberty is a charge committed to us."

"To judge of the form of a government, we must examine the principles upon which it is founded."

"Tyranny can govern by terror, but liberty must govern by virtue."

"The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in the gradual concentration of power."

"The separation of powers is the foundation of all free government."

"It is to commerce that we are to look for the softer affections and the nobler enjoyments of life."

"There can be no greater error than to expect improvement in the public councils from schism in the public sentiments."

"The best security for the people against tyranny is the possession of arms."

"When the mildness of punishments ceases, liberty ceases."