His face is livid, gaunt his whole body, his breath is green with gall; his tongue drips poison.
John Quincy AdamsRead
We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our constitution was made for a moral and religious people... it is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Government requires a moral foundation to effectively govern people's passions.
John Quincy Adams highlights the essential role of morality and religion in maintaining a stable society. He asserts that human passions, when left unchecked, can lead to chaos, and therefore a government designed to manage such passions must be rooted in moral and religious principles. Without these foundations, any form of governance becomes ineffective and insufficient.
Themes
GovernmentMoralityReligionHuman PassionsConstitution
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of ethical leadership, this quote could emphasize the need for morals in governance.
More from John Quincy Adams
All quotes →Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.
John Quincy AdamsRead
It is among the evils of slavery that it taints the very sources of moral principle. It establishes false estimates of virtue and vice: for what can be more false and heartless than this doctrine which makes the first and holiest rights of humanity to depend upon the color of the skin?
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The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.
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I have no predilection for unpopularity as such, but I hold it much preferable to the popularity of a day, which perishes with the transient topic upon which it is grounded.
John Quincy AdamsRead
According to the Stoics, all vice was resolvable into folly: according to the Christian principle, it is all the effect of weakness.
John Quincy AdamsRead
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