They shall not be expected to acknowledge us until we have acknowledged ourselves. (John Adams, "John Adams")
When people talk of the freedom of writing, speaking or thinking I cannot choose but laugh. No such thing ever existed. No such thing now exists; but I hope it will exist. But it must be hundreds of years after you and I shall write and speak no more. (John Adams)
It has escaped no one's attention that celebrating Minimalism in the context of a symphony orchestra is admittedly a problematic fit. Most of the best Minimalist music is not scored for conventional orchestra. But the Los Angeles Philharmonic, being an orchestra that is not only a hundred-piece ensemble but also an amalgam of distinct, highly talented performers, found many ways to make a successful survey of this magnitude. (John Adams)
The manners of women are the surest criterion by which to determine whether a republican government is practicable in a nation or not (John Adams)
You will never be alone with a poet in your pocket. (John Adams)
They really need something like that. A lot of times it probably wouldn't help, especially if you got an explosion, but it might help the survivors. It would be a good idea. (John Adams)
I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. (John Adams)
'A government of laws and not of men.' Adams published articles in 1774 in the Boston, Massachusetts, Gazette using the pseudonym 'Novanglus.' In this paper he credited James Harrington with expressing the idea this way. Harrington described government as 'the empire of laws and not of men' in his 1656 work, The Commonwealth of Oceana, p. 35 (1771). The phrase gained wider currency when Adams used it in the Massachusetts Constitution, Bill of Rights, article 30 (1780). Works, vol. 4, p. 230. (John Adams)
The Bible contains the revelation of the will of God. It contains the history of the creation of the world, and of mankind. (John Adams)
Adams said Harrison was a generous friend and wise mentor ... decisive influence in my life. (John Adams)
The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding generations, as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shews, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this Continent to the other from this time forward forever more. (John Adams)
Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the people. (John Adams)
My fixed principle never to be the tool of any man, nor the partisan of any nation, would forever exclude me from the smiles and favors or courts (John Adams)
This mode of electioneering suited neither my taste nor my principles. I thought it equally unsuitable to my personal character and to the station in which I am placed. (John Adams)
The deliberate union of so great and various a people in such a place, is without all partiality or prejudice, if not the greatest exertion of human understanding, the greatest single effort of national deliberation that the world has ever seen. (John Adams)