The voice of the people has been said to be the voice of God; and, however generally this maxim has been quoted and believed, it is not true to fact. The people are turbulent and changing, they seldom judge or determine right.
ALEXANDER HAMILTONIn framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.
More Alexander Hamilton Quotes
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Men are reasoning rather than reasonable animals.
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In the general course of human nature, A power over a man’s subsistence amounts to a power over his will.
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We must make the best of those ills which cannot be avoided.
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Men often oppose a thing merely because they have had no agency in planning it, or because it may have been planned by those whom they dislike.
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The rights of neutrality will only be respected, when they are defended by an adequate power. A nation, despicable by its weakness, forfeits even the privilege of being neutral.
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The militia is a voluntary force not associated or under the control of the States except when called out; a permanent or long-standing force would be entirely different in make-up and call.
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Experience is the oracle of truth; and where its responses are unequivocal, they ought to be conclusive and sacred.
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All communities divide themselves into the few and the many. The first are the rich and well-born, the other the mass of the people.
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The inquiry constantly is what will please, not what will benefit the people. In such a government there can be nothing but temporary expedient, fickleness, and folly.
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Nature of war to increase the executive at the expense of the legislative authority.
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The masses are asses.
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The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed.
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If we must have an enemy at the head of government, let it be one whom we can oppose, and for whom we are not responsible.
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You should not have taken advantage of my sensibility to steal into my affections without my consent.
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The kindred blood which flows in the veins of American citizens, the mingled blood which they have shed in defense of their sacred rights, consecrate their Union, and excite horror at the idea of their becoming aliens, rivals, enemies.
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A tolerable expertness in military movements is a business that requires time and practice. It is not a day, or even a week, that will suffice for the attainment of it.
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Government implies the power of making laws. It is essential to the idea of a law, that it be attended with a sanction; or, in other words, a penalty or punishment for disobedience.
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An enlightened zeal for the energy and efficiency of government will be stigmatized, as the offspring of a temper fond of despotic power, and hostile to the principles of liberty.
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To all general purposes we have uniformly been one people each individual citizen everywhere enjoying the same national rights, privileges, and protection.
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Caution and investigation are a necessary armor against error and imposition.
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I have thought it my duty to exhibit things as they are, not as they ought to be.
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Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of man will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint.
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Of those men who have overturned the liberties of republics the greatest number have begun their career, by paying an obsequious court to the people; commencing Demagogues, and ending Tyrants.
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The government is frequently and aptly classed under two descriptions – a government of force, and a government of laws; the first is the definition of despotism- the last, of liberty.
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The constitution shall never be construed, to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms.
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Those who stand for nothing fall for everything.
ALEXANDER HAMILTON