James Madison Quotes





Abuse

"Wherever the real power in a Government lies, there is the 
danger of oppression. In our Governments the real power lies 
in the majority of the community, and the invasion of private 
rights is chiefly to be apprehended, not from acts of 
Government contrary to the sense of its constituents,
but from acts in which the Government is the mere instrument 
of the major number of the Constituents."
James Madison
(1751-1836), Father of the Constitution for the USA, 4th US President
Source: in a letter to Thomas Jefferson in 1788
http://liberty-tree.ca/qb/James.Madison.Quote.18DB


Abridgment of Freedoms

"Since the general civilization of mankind,
I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of freedoms
of the people by gradual and silent encroachment of those in power
than by violent and sudden usurpations."
James Madison
Source: Virginia Convention on the ratification of the Constitution, 
in_Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the 
Federal Constitution,_ Jonathan Elliot, ed., v.3 p.87 (Philadelphia, 
1836), 6 June 1788
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/James.Madison.Quote.75C5


Arms

Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people 
of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments, to which 
the people are attached, and by which the militia officers are appointed, forms 
a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which 
a simple government of any form can admit of. Notwithstanding the military 
establishments in the several kingdoms of Europe, which are carried as far as the 
public resources will bear, the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms. 
And it is not certain, that with this aid alone they would not be able to shake off 
their yokes. But were the people to possess the additional advantages of local 
governments chosen by themselves, who could collect the national will and direct the 
national force, and of officers appointed out of the militia, by these governments, 
and attached both to them and to the militia, it may be affirmed with the greatest 
assurance, that the throne of every tyranny in Europe would be speedily overturned in 
spite of the legions which surround it.
James Madison
Source: Federalist #46, January 29, 1788


Changing Government

[A]ll power is originally vested in, and consequently derived from, the people.
That government is instituted and ought to be exercised for the benefit of the people;
which consists in the enjoyment of life and liberty and the right of acquiring property,
and generally of pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.
That the people have an indubitable, unalienable, and indefeasible right
to reform or change their government whenever it be found adverse
or inadequate to the purpose of its institution.
James Madison
Source:http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/James.Madison.Quote.80F8


Charity

"Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government."
-- James Madison
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/James.Madison.Quote.B1AE



Church and State

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. 
James Madison
Source:http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/james_madison.html

Strongly guarded as is the separation between Religion and
Government in the Constitution of the United States, the
danger of encroachment by Ecclesiastical Bodies may be
llustrated by precedents already furnished in their short
history."
James Madison
Source:"Detached Memorandum", 1823


Commerce Clause

"It is very certain that [the commerce clause] grew out of the abuse of the power by 
the importing States in taxing the non-importing, and was intended as a negative and 
preventive provision against injustice among the States themselves, rather than as a 
power to be used for the positive purposes of the General Government."
-- James Madison
(1751-1836), Father of the Constitution for the USA, 4th US President
Source: letter dated February 13, 1829




Constitution

"Each State, in ratifying the Constitution, is considered as a sovereign 
body, independent of all others, and only to be bound by its own 
voluntary act. In this relation, then, the new Constitution will, if 
established, be a FEDERAL, and not a NATIONAL constitution."
James Madison
Source: Federalist No. 39, 1788

Do not separate text from historical background. If you do, you will have 
perverted and subverted the Constitution, which can only end in a distorted, 
bastardized form of illegitimate government. 
James Madison
Source:http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/james_madison.html

"With respect to the words general welfare,
I have always regarded them as qualified
by the detail of powers connected with them.
To take them in a literal and unlimited sense would be
a metamorphosis of the Constitution into a character which
there is a host of proofs was not contemplated by its creators."
James Madison
(1751-1836), Father of the Constitution for the USA, 4th US President
http://liberty-tree.ca/qb/James.Madison.Quote.2500


Declaring War

"The Constitution supposes, what the history of all governments demonstrates, 
that the executive is the branch of government most interested in war, and most 
prone to it. It has accordingly with studied care, vested the question of war 
in the legislature."
James Madison
(1751-1836), Father of the Constitution for the USA, 4th US President
Source: in an April 2, 1798 letter to Thomas Jefferson.


Democracy

Democracy is the most vile form of government... democracies have ever 
been spectacles of turbulence and contention: have ever been found 
incompatible with personal security or the rights of property: 
and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent 
in their deaths. 
James Madison
Source:http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/james_madison.html


Draft

"The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be 
infringed; a well armed and well regulated militia being the 
best security of a free country; but no person religiously 
scrupulous of bearing arms shall be compelled to render 
military service in person."
James Madison
Source: I Annals of Congress 434, June 8, 1789
http://liberty-tree.ca/qb/James.Madison.Quote.FFB3


Experience

"Experience is the oracle of truth; and where its responses are unequivocal, 
they ought to be conclusive and sacred."
James Madison
Source: The Federalist


First Duty

"It is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties.
We hold this prudent jealousy to be the first duty of citizens,
and one of the noblest characteristics of the late Revolution.
The freeman of America did not wait till usurped power had strengthened
itself by exercise, and entangled the question in precedents.
They saw all the consequences in the principle, and they avoided
the consequences by denying the principle."
James Madison
(1751-1836), Father of the Constitution for the USA, 4th US President
Source: "A Memorial and Remonstrance", 1785: Works 1:163


Freedom

I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by 
gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by 
violent and sudden usurpations.
James Madison
Source:http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/james_madison.html

Liberty may be endangered by the abuse of liberty, but also by the abuse of power. 
James Madison
Source:http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/james_madison.html

It is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the 
provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad. 
James Madison
Source:http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/james_madison.html




Freedom of Religion

"Whilst we assert a freedom to embrace, to profess, and to observe
the Religion which we believe to be of divine origin,
we cannot deny an equal freedom to choose
minds who have not yet yielded
to the evidence which has convinced us."
James Madison
Source: Memorials and Remonstrances, 1785


Government

"The essence of Government is power;
and power, lodged as it must be in human hands,
will ever be liable to abuse."
James Madison
(1751-1836), Father of the Constitution for the USA, 4th US President
Source: Speech, Virginia State Convention, 2 December 1829

"In 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."
James Madison
(1751-1836), Father of the Constitution for the USA, 4th US President
Source: The Federalist; Feb.8, 1788
http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/D/1776-1800/federalist/fed_I.htm

A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the 
government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of 
auxiliary precautions.
James Madison, Federalist No. 51, February 8, 1788

If men were angels, no government would be necessary.
James Madison
Source:http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/james_madison.html

Government destitute of energy, will ever produce anacrchy.
James Madison
Source:http://en.thinkexist.com/quotes/james_madison/

"[T]he delegation of the government, in [a republic], to a small number of citizens 
elected by the rest ... [is] to refine and enlarge the public views by passing them 
through the medium of a chosen body of citizens, whose wisdom may best 
discern the true interest of their country and whose patriotism and love of justice 
will be least likely to sacrifice it to temporary or partial considerations."
-- James Madison
(1751-1836), Father of the Constitution for the USA, 4th US President
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/James.Madison.Quote.726C




History

"History records that the money changers have used
every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit, and violent means possible
to maintain their control over governments
by controlling the money and its issuance."
James Madison


Knowledge

Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their 
own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives. 
James Madison
Source:http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/james_madison.html

The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty. 
James Madison
Source:http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/james_madison.html

Learned Institutions ought to be favorite objects with every free people. They 
throw that light over the public mind which is the best security against crafty 
and dangerous encroachments on the public liberty. 
James Madison
Source:http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/james_madison.html


Large Military

Large and permanent military establishments
which are forbidden by the principles of free government,
and against the necessity of which the militia
were meant to be a constitutional bulwark."
James Madison
Source: Fourth Annual Message, November 4, 1812




Laws

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 Madison
Source:http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/james_madison.html


Majority

"There is no maxim, in my opinion,
which is more liable to be misapplied, and which,
therefore, more needs elucidation, than the current,
that the interest of the majority
is the political standard of right and wrong."
 James Madison
(1751-1836), Father of the Constitution for the USA, 4th US President


Militia

"The highest number to which a standing army can be carried
in any country does not exceed one hundredth part of the souls,
or one twenty-fifth part of the number able to bear arms.
This portion would not yield, in the United States,
an army of more than twenty-five or thirty thousand men.
To these would be opposed a militia amounting to near
half a million citizens with arms in their hands,
officered by men chosen from among themselves,
fighting for their common liberties and united and conducted
by governments possessing their affections and confidence.
It may well be doubted whether a militia thus circumstanced
could ever be conquered by such a proportion of regular troops.
Besides the advantage of being armed, it forms a barrier
against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable
than any which a simple government of any form can admit of.
The governments of Europe are afraid to trust the people with arms.
If they did, the people would surely shake off the yoke of tyranny,
as America did. Let us not insult the free and gallant citizens
of America with the suspicion that they would be less able to defend
the rights of which they would be in actual possession than
the debased subjects of arbitrary power would be to rescue
theirs from the hands of their oppressors."
James Madison
Source:http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/James.Madison.Quote.C88A


National Spirit

A local spirit will infallibly prevail much more in the members of Congress than a 
national spirit will prevail in the legislatures of the particular States. 
James Madison, Federalist No. 46, January 29, 1788




Our Money

"I cannot undertake to lay my finger
on that article of the Constitution
which granted a right to Congress of expending,
on the objects of benevolence,
the money of their constituents."
James Madison
Father of the Constitution for the USA, 4th US President
Source: 1792, in disapproval of Congress appropriating $15,000 to 
assist some French refugees
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/James.Madison.Quote.24FE


Power

"War is in fact the true nurse of executive aggrandizement."
James Madison
Source:http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/James.Madison.Quote.B73E


Progress of the Evil

"[In the case of] dangerous exercise of other powers, 
not granted by the said compact, the states, who are parties thereto, 
have the right, and are duty bound, to interpose for arresting the progress of the evil."
James Madison
(1751-1836), Father of the Constitution for the USA, 4th US President
Source: Virginia Resolves


Protect The Opulent

"Landholders ought to have a share in the government
to support these invaluable interests and check the other many.
They ought to be so constituted as to protect the minority
of the opulent against the majority."
James Madison
Source: Max Farrand, ed., The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787, 
3rd ed., vol. I., p. 422


Prediction

"If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land,
it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy."
James Madison
Source:http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/James.Madison.Quote.C1AD


Religious Bondage

Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits
it for every noble enterprize, every expanded prospect.
James Madison
Source:Letter to Bradford, Apr 1, 1774


Second Amendment

A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained in arms,
is the best most natural defense of a free country. 
James Madison
Source:http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/james_madison.html

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. 
James Madison
Source:http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/james_madison.html


The Problem

The most common and durable source of faction has been 
the various and unequal distribution of property.
James Madison
Source:Federalist Papers


Trust

The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted.
James Madison
Source:http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/james_madison.html

We are right to take alarm at the first experiment upon our liberties. 
James Madison
Source:http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/james_madison.html


Tyranny

The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments 
of tyranny at home. 
James Madison
Source:http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/james_madison.html

"[T]he accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, 
in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether 
hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the 
very definition of tyranny."
James Madison
(1751-1836), Father of the Constitution for the USA, 4th US President
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/James.Madison.Quote.04AF


War

"[T]he power to declare war is fully and exclusively vested in the legislature."
James Madison
Father of the Constitution for the USA, 4th US President
1793
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/James.Madison.Quote.59E4



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