John Adams

"The business of America is business."

"The very definition of true courage is not the absence of fear, but action in spite of it."

"I see the future of our nation in the hands of our children."

"Every law that a man makes has its root in selfishness."

"A desire to economize does not mean a miserly disposition."

"The most reliable test of the character of a nation is the way it treats its children."

"Integrity is the most valuable possession a human being can have."

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

"Modesty is a virtue that seldom keeps a man from being promoted."

"Ignorance and inconsistency, are the only enemies to Eloquence."

"The science of government is the most difficult to learn, and the hardest to practice."

"Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body."

"I am not influenced by the expectation of promotion or pecuniary reward."

"Wisdom must have the assistance of knowledge."

"Patience and forbearance are the only weapons by which we can fight our way to truth."

"The separation of powers is the best security of liberty."

"Youth is the foundation for the future, treat it well."

"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free people ought to be to trust no man, but bind him down with the chains of the Constitution."

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

"Talents for low intrigue are too much cultivated in our schools and in the world."

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

"I have no fear that the result of our experiment will be that men may be trusted with the control of their own affairs."

"Facts are stubborn, but statistics are more pliable."

"There are not enough jails, not enough policemen, not enough courts to enforce a law not supported by the people."

"The poor man has as much right to his wages as the rich man to his wealth."

"Let facts be submitted to a candid world."

"The happiness of life is made up of minute fractions."

"We cannot insure success, but we can deserve it."

"The nature of the labour is so hard and so disproportionate to my strength that I can only perform it by degrees."

"Nip the shoots of arbitrary power in the bud, is the only maxim which can ever preserve the liberties of any people."