John Adams

"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."

"I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy."

"The law, in all vicissitudes of government, fluctuations of the passions, or flights of enthusiasm, will always preserve its character of virtue."

"The great and real business of life is to know ourselves."

"You will ever remember that all the end of study is to make you a good and wise and virtuous man."

"Remember that you are a human being with one life and it is your responsibility to make something of it."

"Avarice is as sure a precursor of evil, as fever is of ague."

"I am a warrior, so that my son may be a merchant, so that his son may be a poet."

"The happiness of society is the end of government."

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people."

"Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge and sensibility in the people."

"The fundamental law of the militia is, that it shall be created, directed and commanded by the civil power."

"Arms are the last argument of kings."

"The prosperity of a nation requires the protection of a good constitution."

"Patience, patience, patience is the essence of clemency."

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

"Fear is the foundation of most governments."

"The true foundation of theology is to ascertain the character of God. It is by the aid of History and Science that this can be done."

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

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

"The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid."

"All great changes are irksome to the human mind, especially those which are attended with dangers and uncertain consequences."

"You will never be alone with a poet in your pocket."

"The capacity of the human mind for excitement and the tendency to seek novelty ensure endless curiosity."

"Wisdom and knowledge, as well as virtue, differed in different men."

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

"A man may be as much a slave in a palace as in a cottage."

"My country has in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office."

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

"No one has ever been able to define the word liberty to my satisfaction."