James Madison Quotes - Page 4

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• A pure Democracy, by which I mean a Society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the Government in person, can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction. A common passion or interest will, in almost every case, be felt by a majority of the whole; a communication and concert result from the form of Government itself; and there is nothing to check the inducements to sacrifice the weaker party, or an obnoxious individual. Hence it is, that such Democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security, or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives, as they have been violent in their deaths.

  James Madison

  Party, Passion, Sacrifice

  "Federalist No. 10 (The Federalist Papers)". Essay by James Madison, November 23, 1787.

  56 Copy quote

• if the people are to be our governors, they must arm themselves with knowledge.

  James Madison

  People, Arms, Governors

  25 Copy quote

• We've staked our future on our ability to follow the Ten Commandments with all our heart.

  James Madison

  4th Of July, Heart, Ability

  13 Copy quote

• In no instance have... the churches been guardians of the liberties of the people.

  James Madison

  Atheist, People, Church

  31 Copy quote

• A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

  James Madison

  Gun, Libertarian Party, Assault Weapons

  James Madison, Gaillard Hunt, James Brown Scott (1999). “The Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787: Which Framed the Constitution of the United States of America”, p.690, The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.

  58 Copy quote

• With respect to the words "general welfare," I have always regarded them as qualified by the detail of powers connected with them. To take them in a literal and unlimited sense would be a metamorphosis of the Constitution into a character which there is a host of proofs was not contemplated by its creators.

  James Madison

  Character, Government, Liberty

  James Madison's letter to James Robertson, April 20, 1831.

  69 Copy quote

• If we advert to the nature of republican government, we shall find that the censorial power is in the people over the government, and not in the government over the people.

  James Madison

  Freedom, Government, People

  James Madison, David B. Mattern (1997). “James Madison's "Advice to My Country"”, p.95, University of Virginia Press

  9 Copy quote

• No man is allowed to be a judge in his own cause, because his interest would certainly bias his judgment.

  James Madison

  Men, Judging, Causes

  James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay (2016). “The Federalist Papers: The Making of the US Constitution”, p.43, Arcturus Publishing

  11 Copy quote

• No government, any more than an individual, will long be respected without being truly respectable; nor be truly respectable, without possessing a certain portion of order and stability.

  James Madison

  Government, Order, Long

  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay (2003). “The Federalist: With Letters of Brutus”, p.305, Cambridge University Press

  42 Copy quote

• The executive has no right, in any case, to decide the question, whether there is or is not cause for declaring war.

  James Madison

  War, Liberty, Tyranny Founding Fathers

  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay (1852). “The Federalist, on the new constitution, written in 1788, with an appendix, containing the letters of Pacificus and Helvidius on the proclamation of neutrality of 1793, also the original articles of confederation and the constitution of the United States”, p.451

  90 Copy quote

• Each State, in ratifying the Constitution, is considered as a sovereign body, independent of all others, and only to be bound by its own voluntary act. In this relation, then, the new Constitution will, if established, be a FEDERAL, and not a NATIONAL constitution.

  James Madison

  Wisdom, Independent, America

  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay (1842). “The Federalist, on the New Constitution, Written in the Year 1788”, p.177

  43 Copy quote

• It is of great importance in a republic, not only to guard the society against the oppression of its rulers; but to guard one part of the society against the injustice of the other part.

  James Madison

  Republican Government, Tyranny Of The Majority, Injustice

  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay (1842). “The Federalist, on the New Constitution, Written in the Year 1788”, p.241

  21 Copy quote

• No free country has ever been without Parties, which are a natural offspring of freedom.

  James Madison

  Country, Freedom, Party

  James Madison (1840). “The Papers of James Madison: Purchased by Order of the Congress, Being His Correspondence and Reports of Debates During the Congress of the Confederation, and His Reports of Debates in the Federal Convention; Now Published from the Original Manuscripts, Deposited in the Department of State”

  9 Copy quote

• Congress shall never disarm any citizen unless such as are or have been in actual rebellion.

  James Madison

  Citizens, Rebellion, Congress

  James Madison, Gaillard Hunt, James Brown Scott (1999). “The Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787: Which Framed the Constitution of the United States of America”, p.658, The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.

  9 Copy quote

• A bad cause seldom fails to betray itself.

  James Madison

  Causes, Failing, Betray

  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay (1842). “The Federalist, on the New Constitution, Written in the Year 1788”, p.189

  8 Copy quote

• Good conscience is the most valuable asset of all!

  James Madison

  Assets, Valuable, Conscience

  22 Copy quote

• In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.

  James Madison

  Power, Men, Liberty

  The Federalist no. 51 (1788)

  44 Copy quote

• I consider it…as subverting the fundamental and characteristic principle of the Government…and as bidding defiance to the sense in which the Constitution is known to have been proposed, advocated, and adopted. If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the General Welfare, the Government is no longer a limited one.

  James Madison

  Government, Principles, Bidding

  James Madison (1867). “1769-1793”, p.546

  10 Copy quote

• Strongly guarded as is the separation between Religion and Government in the Constitution of the United States, the danger of encroachment by Ecclesiastical Bodies may be illustrated by precedents already furnished in their short history.

  James Madison

  Government, Religion, Atheism

  73 Copy quote

• Measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority.

  James Madison

  Party, Rights, Justice

  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay (1842). “The Federalist, on the New Constitution, Written in the Year 1788”, p.42

  35 Copy quote

• Let me recommend the best medicine in the world: a long journey, at a mild season, through a pleasant country, in easy stages.

  James Madison

  Country, Journey, Medicine

  James Madison, David B. Mattern (1997). “James Madison's "Advice to My Country"”, p.36, University of Virginia Press

  27 Copy quote

• It is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad.

  James Madison

  Freedom, Real, War

  James Madison, David B. Mattern (1997). “James Madison's "Advice to My Country"”, p.49, University of Virginia Press

  83 Copy quote

• A well-instructed people alone can be permanently a free people.

  James Madison

  People, Liberty, Wells

  James Madison (1819). “The Writings of James Madison: 1808-1819”, p.127

  16 Copy quote

• Complaints are everywhere heard from our most considerate and virtuous citizens, equally the friends of public and private faith, and of public and personal liberty, that our governments are too unstable, that the public good is disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties, and that measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority.

  James Madison

  Party, Rights, Government

  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay (2015). “The Federalist Papers: A Collection of Essays Written in Favour of the New Constitution”, p.47, Coventry House Publishing

  8 Copy quote

• Our country, if it does justice to itself, will be the workshop of liberty to the civilized world.

  James Madison

  Country, Freedom, Justice

  44 Copy quote

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