Quotes by John C. Calhoun

About John C. Calhoun:

John Caldwell Calhoun is best known for his intense and original defense of slavery as a positive good, his distrust of majoritarianism, and for pointing the South toward secession from the Union.
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

It is harder to preserve than to obtain liberty.

John C. Calhoun

The Government of the absolute majority instead of the Government of the people is but the Government of the strongest interests; and when not efficiently checked, it is the most tyrannical and oppressive that can be devised.

John C. Calhoun

A power has risen up in the government greater than the people themselves, consisting of many and various and powerful interests, combined into one mass, and held together by the cohesive power of the vast surplus in the banks.

John C. Calhoun

The surrender of life is nothing to sinking down into acknowledgment of inferiority.

John C. Calhoun

Beware the wrath of a patient adversary.

John C. Calhoun

Learn from your mistakes and build on your successes.

John C. Calhoun

The interval between the decay of the old and the formation and establishment of the new constitutes a period of transition which must always necessarily be one of uncertainty, confusion, error, and wild and fierce fanaticism.

John C. Calhoun

In looking back, I see nothing to regret and little to correct.

John C. Calhoun

The Union next to our liberties the most dear. May we all remember that it can only be preserved by respecting the rights of the States, and distributing equally the benefits and burdens of the Union.

John C. Calhoun

Author Bio

  • NameJohn C. Calhoun
  • Description7th Vice President of the United States
  • AliasesJohn Caldwell Calhoun
  • BornMarch 18, 1782
  • DiedMarch 31, 1850
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionPolitician; Lawyer; Diplomat