James Madison Quotes - Page 21

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• What becomes of the surplus of human life? It is either, 1st. destroyed by infanticide, as among the Chinese and Lacedemonians; or 2d. it is stifled or starved, as among other nations whose population is commensurate to its food; or 3d. it is consumed by wars and endemic diseases; or 4th. it overflows, by emigration, to places where a surplus of food is attainable.

  James Madison

  War, Chinese, Balance

  James Madison (1867). “1829-1836”, p.454

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• The temple through which alone lies the road to that of Liberty.

  James Madison

  Lying, Liberty, Temples

  James Madison (1867). “1816-1828: 1816-1828”, p.517

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• Of all the objections which have been framed against the federal Constitution, this is perhaps the most extraordinary. Whilst the objection itself is levelled against a pretended oligarchy, the principle of it strikes at the very root of republican government.

  James Madison

  Government, Roots, Principles

  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay (2016). “The Federalist Papers and the Constitution of the United States: The Principles of the American Government”, p.307, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.

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• In proportion to the value of this revolution; in proportion to the importance of instruments, every word of which decides a question between power and liberty; in proportion to the solemnity of acts, proclaiming the will authenticated by the seal of the people, the only earthly source of authority, ought to be the vigilance with which they are guarded by every citizen in private life, and the circumspection with which they are executed by every citizen in public trust.

  James Madison

  People, Liberty, Citizens

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• The citizens of the United States have peculiar motives to support the energy of their constitutional charters.

  James Madison

  Support, Liberty, Citizens

  James Madison (1865). “Letters and other writings of James Madison”, p.468

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• I have ever regarded the freedom of religious opinions and worship as equally belonging to every sect.

  James Madison

  Religious, Atheism, Opinion

  James Madison (1867). “1816-1828: 1816-1828”, p.97

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• Because finally, 'the equal right of every citizen to the free exercise of his religion according to the dictates of conscience' is held by the same tenure with all his other rights. If we recur to its origin, it is equally the gift of nature; if we weigh its importance, it cannot be less dear to us; if we consider the 'Declaration of those rights which pertain to the good people of Virginia, as the basis and foundation of government,' it is enumerated with equal solemnity, or rather studied emphasis.

  James Madison

  Exercise, Rights, Government

  James Madison, Ralph Ketcham “Selected Writings of James Madison”, Hackett Publishing

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• Happily for the states, they enjoy the utmost freedom of religion. This freedom arises from that multiplicity of sects which pervades America, and which is the best and only security for religious liberty in any society.

  James Madison

  Religious, America, Liberty

  "The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution".

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• The free system of government we have established is so congenial with reason, with common sense, and with a universal feeling, that it must produce approbation and a desire of imitation, as avenues may be found for truth to the knowledge of nations.

  James Madison

  Government, Common Sense, Feelings

  Letter to Pierre-Étienne du Ponceau (James Madison papers, Library of Congress), January 23, 1826.

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• The protection of these faculties is the first object of government.

  James Madison

  Government, Diversity, Politics

  The Federalist no. 10 (1788)

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• Are not the daily devotions conducted by these legal ecclesiastics already degenerating into a scanty attendance, and a tiresome formality?

  James Madison

  Atheism, Attendance, Devotion

  James Madison (1999). “Writings”

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• The American people owe it to themselves, and to the cause of free Government, to prove by their establishments for the advancement and diffusion of knowledge, that their political Institutionsare as favorable to the intellectual and moral improvement of Man as they are conformable to his individual and social rights.

  James Madison

  Education, Men, Rights

  James Madison, Ralph Ketcham “Selected Writings of James Madison”, Hackett Publishing

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• [Montesquieu] lifted the veil from the venerable errors which enslaved opinion, and pointed the way to those luminous truths of which he had but a glimpse himself.

  James Madison

  Errors, Glimpse, Veils

  James Madison (1867). “1829-1836”, p.474

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• The political truths declared in that solemn manner acquire by degrees the character of fundamental maxims of free Government, and as they become incorporated with national sentiment, counteract the impulses of interest and passion.

  James Madison

  Passion, Character, Government

  James Madison, Ralph Ketcham “Selected Writings of James Madison”, Hackett Publishing

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• [In government] the constant aim is to divide and arrange the several offices in such a manner as that each may be a check on the other-that the private interest of every individual may be a sentinel over the public rights.

  James Madison

  Rights, Government, Office

  James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay (2016). “The Federalist Papers: The Making of the US Constitution”, p.109, Arcturus Publishing

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• We may be assured by past experience, that such a practice [as some states charging high taxes on goods from other states] would be introduced by future contrivances; and both by that and a common knowledge of human affairs, that it would nourish unceasing animosities, and not improbably terminate in serious interruptions of the public tranquility.

  James Madison

  Past, Government, Practice

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• The apportionment of taxes on the various descriptions of property is an act which seems to require the most exact impartiality; yet there is, perhaps, no legislative act in which greater opportunity and temptation are given to a predominant party to trample on the rules of justice. Every shilling which they overburden the inferior number is a shilling saved to their own pockets.

  James Madison

  Party, Opportunity, Numbers

  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay (1831). “The Federalist on the New Constitution”, p.48

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• In Europe, charters of liberty have been granted by power. America has set the example . . . of charters of power granted by liberty. This revolution in the practice of the world, may, with an honest praise, be pronounced the most triumphant epoch of its history, and the most consoling presage of its happiness.

  James Madison

  Freedom, Europe, Practice

  James Madison, David B. Mattern (1997). “James Madison's "Advice to My Country"”, p.20, University of Virginia Press

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• No man will subject himself to the ridicule of pretending that any natural connection subsists between the sun or the seasons, and the period within which human virtue can bear the temptations of power. Happily for mankind, liberty is not, in this respect, confined to any single point of time, but lies within extremes, which afford sufficient latitude for all the variations which may be required by the various situations and circumstances of civil society.

  James Madison

  Freedom, Lying, Men

  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay (2003). “The Federalist: With Letters of Brutus”, p.260, Cambridge University Press

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• Place three individuals in a situation wherein the interest of each depends on the voice of the others, and give to two of them an interest opposed to the rights of the third. Will the latter be secure? The prudence of every man would shun the danger. The rules & forms of justice suppose & guard against it. Will two thousand in a like situation be less likely to encroach on the rights of one thousand?

  James Madison

  Men, Rights, Two

  James Madison, Ralph Ketcham “Selected Writings of James Madison”, Hackett Publishing

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• Among the features peculiar to the political system of the United States is the perfect equality of rights which it secures to every religious sect. [...] Equal laws protecting equal rights, are found as they ought to be presumed, the best guarantee of loyalty, and love of country; as well as best calculated to cherish that mutual respect and good will among citizens of every religious denomination which are necessary to social harmony and most favorable to the advancement of truth.

  James Madison

  Loyalty, Country, Religious

  Letter to Jacob De La Motta, printed in "Letters and Other Writings of James Madison, vol. 3" (1867), August 1820.

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• [The human mind] finds more facility in assenting to the self-existence of an invisible cause possessing infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, than in the self-existence of the universe, visibly destitute of these attributes, and which may be the effect of them.

  James Madison

  Self, Mind, Religion

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• [Religious liberty was] in its nature an inalienable right ... because the opinions of men, depending only upon the evidence contemplated by their minds, cannot follow the dictates of other men.

  James Madison

  Religious, Men, Mind

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• The powers of the federal government ... result from the compact to which the states are parties, [and are] limited by the plain sense and intention of the instrument constituting that compact.

  James Madison

  Party, Government, Intention

  Virginia. General Assembly. House of Delegates, J. W. Randolph, James Madison (1850). “The Virginia Report of 1799-1800: Touching the Alien and Sedition Laws; Together with the Virginia Resolutions of December 21, 1798, Including the Debate and Proceedings Thereon in the House of Delegates of Virginia and Other Documents Illustrative of the Report and Resolutions”, p.190

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• For what purpose could the enumeration of particular powers be inserted, if these and all others were meant to be included in the preceding general power?

  James Madison

  Purpose, Were Meant To Be, Particular

  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay (2016). “The Federalist Papers and the Constitution of the United States: The Principles of the American Government”, p.225, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.

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