Founding Fathers Of America Quotes - Page 5

• The question before the human race is, whether the God of nature shall govern the world by his own laws, or whether priests and kings shall rule it by fictitious miracles?

  John Adams

  Kings, Race, Faith Religion

  John Adams, Abigail Adams, Thomas Jefferson (1971). “The Adams-Jefferson letters: the complete correspondence between Thomas Jefferson and Abigail and John Adams”, Touchstone

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• Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.

  Thomas Paine

  Inspirational, Life, Motivational

  The American Crisis, 12 Sept. 1777

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• The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Life, Time, Godly

  Thomas Jefferson (1774). “A Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774)”, p.31, Academic Resources Corp

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• Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst.

  Thomas Paine

  Christian, Religious, Atheist

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• All the perplexities, confusion and distress in America arise, not from defects in their Constitution or Confederation, not from want of honor or virtue, so much as from the downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit and circulation.

  John Adams

  Nature, Money, Ignorance

  John Adams' Letter to Thomas Jefferson, founders.archives.gov. August 23, 1787.

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• Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.

  George Washington

  Inspirational, Leadership, Honesty

  George Washington, Jared Sparks (1834). “The Writings of George Washington: Being His Correspondence, Addresses, Messages, and Other Papers, Official and Private, Selected and Published from the Original Manuscripts”, p.324

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• Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can exist apart from religious principle.

  George Washington

  Religious, Truth, Freedom

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• The clergy ... believe that any portion of power confided to me [as President] will be exerted in opposition to their schemes. And they believe rightly: for I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man. But this is all they have to fear from me: and enough, too, in their opinion.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Religious, Believe, Men

  Thomas Jefferson (1900). “The Life and Writings of ...”

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• It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Life, God, Religious

  Notes on the State of Virginia, query 17 (1781 - 1785)

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• Here is my Creed. I believe in one God, creator of the Universe. That he governs it by his Providence. That he ought to be worshiped. That the most acceptable service we render him is doing good to his other children. That the soul of Man is immortal, and will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this.

  Benjamin Franklin

  Children, Believe, Men

  Benjamin Franklin (1905). “The Life of Benjamin Franklin: Written by Himself. Now First Edited from Original Manuscripts and from His Printed Correspondence and Other Writings”

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• The hocus-pocus phantasm of a God, like another Cerberus, with one body and three heads, had its birth and growth in the blood of thousands and thousands of martyrs.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Religious, Faith Religion, Blood

  Thomas Jefferson (2011). “Jefferson on Freedom: Wisdom, Advice, and Hints on Freedom, Democracy, and the American Way”, p.39, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.

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• The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their houses and farms are to be pillaged and destroyed, and themselves consigned to a state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will deliver them. The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of brave resistance, or the most abject submission. We have, therefore, to resolve to conquer or die.

  George Washington

  Army, Fate, Hands

  Address to the Continental Army before the Battle of Long Island, August 27, 1776.

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• Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error all over the earth.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Religious, Children, Hypocrite

  Thomas Jefferson (2010). “The Works of Thomas Jefferson: Notes on Virginia II, Correspondence 1782-1786”, p.80, Cosimo, Inc.

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• The rights essential to happiness. . . . We claim them from a higher source - from the King of kings and Lord of all the earth.

  John Dickinson

  Bible, God, Religious

  John Dickinson (1801). “The Political Writings of John Dickinson, Esquire: The speech of John Dickinson ... May 24th, 1764 ... praying the king for a change of the government of the province. 1764”, p.111

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• Christianity is the only true and perfect religion.

  Benjamin Rush

  Bible, God, Religious

  Benjamin Rush (1806). “Essays, Literary, Moral and Philosophical ...”, p.93

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• I ... [rely] upon the merits of Jesus Christ for a pardon of all my sins.

  Samuel Adams

  Bible, God, Religious

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• We beseech [God] to pardon our national and other transgressions.

  George Washington

  Bible, God, Religious

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• We will not be led like sheep to the slaughter.

  Abba Kovner

  Freedom, Taken, Patriotic

  "Freedom fighters" by Andrew Pulver, www.theguardian.com. February 23, 2001.

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• The only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government is the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by means of the Bible.

  Benjamin Rush

  Education, Mean, Patriotic

  Benjamin Rush (1806). “Essays, Literary, Moral and Philosophical ...”, p.112

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• The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Religious, Atheist, Government

  Notes on the State of Virginia, query 17 (1781 - 1785)

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• The Bible: a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalise mankind.

  Thomas Paine

  Atheist, Faith Religion, Atheism

  Thomas Paine (1861). “The Age of Reason, etc”, p.7

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• Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

  George Washington

  Education, Wisdom, Religious

  Noah Webster, George Washington (1806). “Elements of useful knowledge: containing a historical and geographical account of the United States”, p.217

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• Ecclesiastical establishments tend to great ignorance and corruption

  James Madison

  Ignorance, Religious Truth, Corruption

  James Madison, David B. Mattern (1997). “James Madison's "Advice to My Country"”, p.90, University of Virginia Press

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• The study of theology, as it stands in the Christian churches, is the study of nothing.

  Thomas Paine

  Christian, Church, Study

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• The Founding Fathers of America never intended to stop people expressing their faith in the public square. But unfortunately that is the way it is happened.

  John Lennox

  Father, Squares, America

  Source: www.christiantelegraph.com

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