I go on the principle that a public debt is a public curse and in a republican government more than in any other.
James MadisonRead
And I have no doubt that every new example will succeed, as every past one has done, in showing that religion and Government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Separating religion from government leads to a purer form of both.
James Madison asserts that the separation of religion and government fosters a more genuine practice of both. He believes that when these two institutions are kept distinct, they are less likely to corrupt each other, allowing each to flourish in its own right and serve the public without bias or interference.
Themes
SeparationReligionGovernmentPurityFreedomPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the importance of secularism in education.
More from James Madison
All quotes →No man is allowed to be a judge in his own cause; because his interest would certainly bias his judgment, and, not improbably, corrupt his integrity. With equal, nay with greater reason, a body of men are unfit to be both judges and parties at the same time.
James MadisonRead
I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power, than by violent and sudden usurpations; but, on a candid examination of history, we shall find that turbulence, violence, and abuse of power, by the majority trampling on the rights of the minority, have produced factions and commotions, which, in republics, have, more frequently than any other cause, produced despotism.
James MadisonRead
The advice nearest to my heart and deepest in my convictions is that the Union of the States be cherished and perpetuated.
James MadisonRead
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 MadisonRead
The magnitude of this evil among us is so deeply felt, and so universally acknowledged, that no merit could be greater than that of devising a satisfactory remedy for it.
James MadisonRead
Similar quotes
The ideal of the supreme being is nothing but a regulative principle of reason which directs us to look upon all connection in the world as if it originated from an all-sufficient necessary cause.
Immanuel KantRead
Vanity dies hard; in some obstinate cases it outlives the man.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
On occasion, terrorists will succeed despite our best efforts. That is part of the legacy of 9/11. But 9/11 also shows us that while terrorists can destroy, they are unable to create.
Richard N. HaassRead
Anyone entrusted with power will abuse it if not also animated with the love of truth and virtue, no matter whether he be a prince, or one of the people.
Jean De La FontaineRead
Doesn't make any difference who we are or what we are, there's always somebody to look down on.
Mark TwainRead
I don't do formal debates, because formal debates where you have two people up on a stage in equal status, and each of them is given 20 minutes to give their point of view, and then 10 minutes for a rebuttal, or whatever, that creates the illusion that you really do have here two equal points of view of equal scientific standing.
Richard DawkinsRead