If men were angels, no government would be necessary.
JAMES MADISONIf men were angels, no government would be necessary.
JAMES MADISONPhilosophy is common sense with big words.
JAMES MADISONIf Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.
JAMES MADISONWar contains so much folly, as well as wickedness, that much is to be hoped from the progress of reason.
JAMES MADISONNo nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.
JAMES MADISONThe 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.
JAMES MADISONDespotism can only exist in darkness, and there are too many lights now in the political firmament to permit it to remain anywhere, as it has heretofore done, almost everywhere.
JAMES MADISONAll men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree.
JAMES MADISONThe people are the only legitimate fountain of power, and it is from them that the constitutional charter, under which the several branches of government hold their power, is derived.
JAMES MADISONThe circulation of confidence is better than the circulation of money.
JAMES MADISONThe advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.
JAMES MADISONThe means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home.
JAMES MADISONAll that seems indispensible in stating the account between the dead and the living, is to see that the debts against the latter do not exceed the advances made by the former.
JAMES MADISONLiberty may be endangered by the abuse of liberty, but also by the abuse of power.
JAMES MADISONWar should only be declared by the authority of the people, whose toils and treasures are to support its burdens, instead of the government which is to reap its fruits.
JAMES MADISONThe executive has no right, in any case, to decide the question, whether there is or is not cause for declaring war.
JAMES MADISON