Famously celebrated as the Father of the Constitution of the United States, James Madison was an influential figure in the country’s history. He was the 4th President of the nation and is best recognized for the ratification of the Bill of Rights.
During his tenure in the office as the U.S president and even in his career as a statesman, he quoted numerous lines that impacted the people of America. His quotes about the nation, service, society, and philanthropy still influence countless individuals. In this article, we will provide you with the 50 best quotes by James Madison.
1. “There are more instances of the abridgment of the people’s freedom by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.” -James Madison
2. “Every new & successful example, therefore, of a perfect separation between ecclesiastical and civil matters is of importance. And I have no doubt that every new example, will succeed, as every past one has done, in showing that religion & Govt. will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.” -James Madison
3. “No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.” -James Madison
4. “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 money and its issuance.” -James Madison
5. “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 in blood for centuries.” -James Madison
6. “Crisis is the rallying cry of the tyrant.” -James Madison
7. “The 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 Madison
8. “If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the General Welfare, the Government is no longer a limited one, possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one….” -James Madison
9. “Americans have the right and advantage of being armed – unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.” -James Madison
10. “If our nation is ever taken over, it will be taken over from within.” -James Madison
11. “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those who are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, such as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce. … The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives and liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the State.” -James Madison
12. “If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.” -James Madison
13. “Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government.” -James Madison
14. “You must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.” -James Madison
15. “The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home.” -James Madison
16. “The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.” -James Madison
17. “Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives.” -James Madison
18. “We are free today substantially, but the day will come when our Republic will be an impossibility. It will be an impossibility because wealth will be concentrated in the hands of a few. A Republic cannot stand upon bayonets, and when the day comes when the wealth of the nation will be in the hands of a few, then we must rely upon the wisdom of the best elements in the country to readjust the laws of the nations to the changed conditions.” -James Madison
19. “It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws are so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood.” -James Madison
20. “A bad cause seldom fails to betray itself.” -James Madison
21. “The future and success of America is not in this Constitution, but in the laws of God upon which this Constitution is founded.” -James Madison
22. “In Republics, the great danger is, that the majority may not sufficiently respect the rights of the minority.” -James Madison
23. “Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm.” -James Madison
24. “We have staked the whole future of our new nation, not upon the power of government; far from it. We have staked the future of all our political constitutions upon the capacity of each of ourselves to govern ourselves according to the moral principles of the Ten Commandments.” -James Madison
25. “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
26. “Democracy is the most vile form of government.” -James Madison
27. “The future and success of America is not in this Constitution, but in the laws of God upon which this Constitution is founded.” -James Madison
28. “No error is more certain than the one proceeding from a hasty and superficial view of the subject.” -James Madison
29. “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
30. “Disarm the people – that is the best and most effective way to enslave them.” -James Madison
31. “Temporary deviations from fundamental principles are always more or less dangerous. When the first pretext fails, those who become interested in prolonging the evil will rarely be at a loss for other pretexts.” -James Madison
32. “I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents.” -James Madison
33. “All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree.” -James Madison
34. “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
35. “Where an excess of power prevails, property of no sort is duly respected. No man is safe in his opinions, his person, his faculties or his possessions.” -James Madison
36. “Cursed be all that learning that is contrary to the cross of Christ.” -James Madison
37. “Americans need not fear the federal government because they enjoy the advantage of being armed, which you possess over the people of almost every other nation.” -James Madison
38. “It may not be easy, in every possible case, to trace the line of separation between the rights of religion and the Civil authority with such distinctness as to avoid collisions and doubts on unessential points. The tendency to usurpation on one side or the other, or to a corrupting coalition or alliance between them, will be best guarded against by an entire abstinence of the Government from interference in any way whatsoever, beyond the necessity of preserving public order, and protecting each sect agst. trespasses on its legal rights by others.” -James Madison
39. “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation and foreign commerce. … The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives and liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement and prosperity of the State.” -James Madison
40. “You must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.” -James Madison
41. “Temporary deviations from fundamental principles are always more or less dangerous. When the first pretext fails, those who become interested in prolonging the evil will rarely be at a loss for other pretexts.” -James Madison
42. “Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind, and unfits it for every noble enterprise, every expanded prospect.” -James Madison
43. “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.” -James Madison
44. “A well-instructed people alone can be permanently a free people.” -James Madison
45. “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
46. “Philosophy is common sense with big words.” -James Madison
47. “Of all the enemies of public liberty, war is perhaps the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other.” -James Madison
48. “If a man is not fit to govern himself, how can he be fit to govern someone else.” -James Madison
49. “The circulation of confidence is better than the circulation of money.” -James Madison
50. “The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted.” -James Madison
