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CytatyJohn AdamsUS diplomat & politician (1735 - 1826)...a revolution of government is the strongest proof that can be given by a people of their virtue and good sense.But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever. Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom. I always consider the settlement of America with reverence and wonder, as the opening of a grand scene and design in providence, for the illumination of the ignorant and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the earth. I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain. In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress. Jefferson still survivies. No man who ever held the office of president would congratulate a friend on obtaining it. Old minds are like old horses; you must exercise them if you wish to keep them in working order. Statesmen may plan and speculate for liberty but it is religion and morality alone that can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand. The proposition that the people are the best keepers of their own liberties is not true. They are the worst conceivable, they are no keepers at all; they can neither judge, act, think, or will, as a political body. 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. Thomas Jefferson still lives. We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other. We have too many high sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them. |
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