John Adams’ Quotes on Freedom
Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that belongs to us by the laws of God and nature.
Liberty must, at all hazards, be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood.
The truest form of freedom is the ability to live without fear.
Freedom is not just the absence of chains, but the ability to think and speak without censorship.
Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves.
There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.
Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is called a disgrace, that two are called a law firm, and that three or more become a Congress!
Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right, from the frame of their nature, to knowledge, as their great Creator, who does nothing in vain, has given them understandings, and a desire to know; but besides this, they have a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge; I mean, of the characters and conduct of their rulers.
The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true freedom.
Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the comprehension of the weak.
I must study politics and war, that our sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy.
I fear that in every elected office, members will obtain an influence by noise not sense. By meanness, not greatness. By ignorance, not learning. By contracted hearts, not large souls.
The happiness of society is the end of government.
A constitution of government, once changed from freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.
Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people.
Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth.
Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.
The people in general ought to have regard to the moral character of those whom they invest with authority either in the legislative, executive, or judicial branches.
No man has a natural right to commit aggression on the equal rights of another, and this is all from which the laws ought to restrain him.
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 commence.
It is more important that innocence be protected than it is that guilt be punished, for guilt and crimes are so frequent in this world that they cannot all be punished. But if innocence itself is brought to the bar and condemned, perhaps to die, then the citizen will say, ‘whether I do good or whether I do evil is immaterial, for innocence itself is no protection,’ and if such an idea as that were to take hold in the mind of the citizen that would be the end of security whatsoever.
The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted.
Liberty, according to my metaphysics, is an intellectual quality, an attribute that belongs not to fate or chance.
Is there no virtue among us? If there be not, we are in a wretched situation. No theoretical checks, no form of government can render us secure.
We should never despair, our situation before has been unpromising and has changed for the better, so I trust, it will again.
We electors have an important constitutional power placed in our hands; we have a check upon two branches of the legislature.
Abuse of words has been the great instrument of sophistry and chicanery, of party, faction, and division of society.
The Legislature, by annihilating the Charter and cutting off the protective powers and defensive powers of the Colony, have annulled the compact from the beginning, and caused all allegiance in the inhabitants of this Province voluntary: And by driving a people into rebellion, they have undone themselves.
Liberty must at all hazards be supported.
There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.
It is a general popular error to suppose the loudest complainers for the public to be the most anxious for its welfare.
Public affairs go on pretty much as usual: perpetual chicanery and rather more personal abuse than there used to be…on the whole, however, the great and the little game goes on with much spirit on both sides.
I must not write a word to you about politics, because you are a woman.
We must have a government of laws and not of men.
We should be unfaithful to ourselves if we should ever lose sight of the danger to our liberties if anything partial or extraneous should infect the purity of our free, fair, virtuous, and independent elections.
Great difficulties may be surmounted by patience and perseverance.
Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.
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 commence.
All the perplexities, confusion, and distress in America arise not from defects in the constitution or confederation, nor from a want of honor or virtue, as much from downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit, and circulation.
Politics are the divine science, after all.
The prospect is chilling, on every side. Gloomy, dark, melancholy, and dispiriting.
With these chains they will be bound, and we shall enter upon an age of prudence and industry without economy; and of virtue without religion.
My politics are short and sweet, like the old woman’s dance.
The preservation of liberty depends upon the intellectual and moral character of the people.
You will never be alone with a poet in your pocket.
There never was yet a people who must not have somebody or something to represent the dignity of the state.
What do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American war? The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people.
But what do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American war? The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations.
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 commence.