Founding Fathers Quotes

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal. – Thomas Jefferson

The harder the conflict, the greater the triumph. – George Washington

The best means of forming a manly, virtuous, and happy people will be found in the right education of youth. – George Washington

Liberty, once lost, is lost forever. – John Adams

Happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected. – George Washington

Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must undergo the fatigue of supporting it. – Thomas Paine

I have laid the foundation, and another will build upon it. – Alexander Hamilton

The same prudence which in private life would forbid our paying our own money for unexplained projects, forbids it in the dispensation of the public moneys. – Thomas Jefferson

No government ought to be without censors; and where the press is free, no one ever will. – Thomas Jefferson

If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known that we are at all times ready for war. – George Washington

An honorable defeat is better than a dishonorable victory. – Alexander Hamilton

The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government. – Patrick Henry

It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. – Thomas Jefferson

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. – Thomas Jefferson

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. – Thomas Jefferson

If men of wisdom and knowledge, of moderation and temperance, of patience, fortitude and perseverance, of sobriety and true republican simplicity of manners, of zeal for the honor of the Supreme Being and the welfare of the commonwealth; if men possessed of these other excellent qualities are chosen to fill the seats of government we may expect that our affairs will rest on a solid and permanent foundation. – Samuel Adams

We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately. – Benjamin Franklin

The government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion. – John Adams

The patriot volunteer, fighting for country and his rights, makes the most reliable soldier on earth. – Stonewall Jackson

To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace. – George Washington

The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government. – George Washington

Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. – Benjamin Franklin

A constitution is not the act of a government, but of a people constituting a government. – Thomas Paine

The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself. – Benjamin Franklin

All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree. – James Madison

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves. – Abraham Lincoln

In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years. – Abraham Lincoln

We can complain because rose bushes have thorns or rejoice because thorns have roses. – Abraham Lincoln

Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters. – Benjamin Franklin

The circulation of confidence is better than the circulation of money. – James Madison

Citizenship is not just a privilege; it is the duty and obligation of every member of society. – Benjamin Franklin

A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. – John F. Kennedy

Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth. – Abraham Lincoln

The best way to predict your future is to create it. – Peter Drucker

The time is always right to do what is right. – Martin Luther King Jr.

Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future. – John F. Kennedy

Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going. – Sam Levenson

The secret of getting ahead is getting started. – Mark Twain

I haven’t failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. – Thomas Edison

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. – Eleanor Roosevelt

Believe you can and you’re halfway there. – Theodore Roosevelt

The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. – Walt Disney

Your time is limited, don’t waste it living someone else’s life. – Steve Jobs

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. – Albert Schweitzer

I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination. – Jimmy Dean

The only way to do great work is to love what you do. – Steve Jobs

I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have. – Thomas Jefferson

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. – Martin Luther King Jr.

It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. – Confucius

The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. – James Truslow Adams