Quotes by James Madison

About James Madison:

James Madison, Jr. is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for being instrumental in the drafting of the U.S. Constitution and as the key champion and author of the Bill of Rights. He served as a politician much of his adult life.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

The loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or imagined, from abroad.

James Madison

Perhaps it is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad.

James Madison

The happy Union of these States is a wonder; their Constitution a miracle; their example the hope of Liberty throughout the world.

James Madison

A sincere and steadfast co-operation in promoting such a reconstruction of our political system as would provide for the permanent liberty and happiness of the United States.

James Madison

Whenever a youth is ascertained to possess talents meriting an education which his parents cannot afford, he should be carried forward at the public expense.

James Madison

In Republics, the great danger is, that the majority may not sufficiently respect the rights of the minority.

James Madison

Any reading not of a vicious species must be a good substitute for the amusements too apt to fill up the leisure of the labouring classes.

James Madison

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

The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.

James Madison

What 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?

James Madison

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

If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.

James Madison

Philosophy is common sense with big words.

James Madison

As a man is said to have a right to his property, he may be equally said to have a property in his rights.

James Madison

In no instance have... the churches been guardians of the liberties of the people.

James Madison

I should not regret a fair and full trial of the entire abolition of capital punishment.

James Madison

Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.

James Madison

America was indebted to immigration for her settlement and prosperity. That part of America which had encouraged them most had advanced most rapidly in population, agriculture and the arts.

James Madison

Each generation should be made to bear the burden of its own wars, instead of carrying them on, at the expense of other generations.

James Madison

Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise, every expanded prospect.

James Madison

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.

James Madison

Author Bio

  • NameJames Madison
  • DescriptionAmerican politician, 4th president of the United States (in office from 1809 to 1817)
  • AliasesJames Madison, Jr.
  • BornMarch 5, 1750
  • DiedJune 28, 1836
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionPolitician; Writer; Diplomat; Philosopher