It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood.
JAMES MADISONWhat spectacle can be more edifying or more seasonable, than that of Liberty and Learning, each leaning on the other for their mutual and surest support?
More James Madison Quotes
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The Constitution preserves the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation where the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.
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As long as the reason of man continues fallible, and he is at liberty to exercise it, different opinions will be formed.
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The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe with blood for centuries.
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Each generation should be made to bear the burden of its own wars, instead of carrying them on, at the expense of other generations.
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The operations of the federal government will be most extensive and important in times of war and danger; those of the state governments, in times of peace and security.
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Religion flourishes in greater purity, without than with the aid of Government.
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The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.
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Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.
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The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home.
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The rights of persons, and the rights of property, are the objects, for the protection of which Government was instituted.
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If men were angels, no government would be necessary.
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There is no maxim, in my opinion, which is more liable to be misapplied, and which, therefore, more needs elucidation, than the current one, that the interest of the majority is the political standard of right and wrong.
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A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained in arms, is the best most natural defense of a free country.
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War contains so much folly, as well as wickedness, that much is to be hoped from the progress of reason.
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In no instance have… the churches been guardians of the liberties of the people.
JAMES MADISON