John Adams

"Our obligation to our country never ceases but with our lives."

"No man is entirely free from weakness and imperfection in this life."

"The form of government which communicates ease, comfort, security, and protection to the laborer is finally to be preferred to all others."

"Science must be cultivated for its own sake, as the pursuit of truth leads to both knowledge and virtue."

"Enthusiasm kindles itself from within, but it is sustained by the efforts of others."

"The preservation of the means of knowledge is the preservation of freedom."

"What do we mean by the Revolution? The war? That was no part of the revolution; it was only an effect and consequence of it."

"One useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, three is a Congress."

"The doctrine of the separation of powers was not made by the convention to be a separation of the persons holding the powers, but of the powers themselves."

"Ambition is the subtle enemy of all goodness."

"The strength of the constitution lies in the will of the people to sustain it."

"Every good citizen makes his country's honor his own, and cherishes it not only as a precious but as a sacred trust."

"Avarice is as surely the bane of happiness as it is the root of injustice."

"The principles upon which our Revolution was founded demand perpetual reformation."

"Health is infinitely more valuable than wealth."

"The revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people before a drop of blood was spilled."

"Faction is the curse of a free people."

"Our security is in our liberty, and our liberty depends on the virtue of the people."

"I have not yet lost faith that mankind will eventually succeed in creating a form of government suited to its needs."

"The multiplicity of laws makes a nation unfit for freedom."

"You bid me burn your letters. But I must forget you first."

"The laws of nature and of nature's God ought to be submitted to by every human being."

"A countryman between two lawyers is like a fish between two cats."

"Peace is more important than truth, but if we sacrifice truth for peace, we have neither."

"The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny begin."

"Great learning requires great labor, but the reward is great satisfaction."

"Selfishness must ever be the ruling principle of human actions."

"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government of the people, but for the limitation of government."

"The way to secure liberty is to place it in the people's hands, to educate and inform them."

"Remember always that the composer is the only one who knows what a composition should sound and sound like."