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
Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise, every expanded prospect.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Religious bondage limits human potential and hinders noble pursuits.
This quote by James Madison emphasizes the detrimental effects of religious oppression on the human mind. By referring to religious bondage as something that 'shackles' and 'debilitates,' it suggests that such constraints prevent individuals from engaging in meaningful ventures and broadening their horizons, ultimately inhibiting progress and enlightenment.
Themes
ReligionBondageMindFreedomPotentialEnterprise
In practice
Example use cases
When discussing the impact of restrictive ideologies at a seminar on personal freedom.
More from James Madison
All quotes βNo 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
No advocate of reason can claim the right to force his ideas on others. No advocate of the free mind can claim the right to force the minds of others. No rational society, no co-operation, no agreement, no understanding, no discussion are possible among men who propose to substitute guns for rational persuasion.
Ayn RandRead
Every man is the builder of a temple, called his body, to the god he worships, after a style purely his own, nor can he get off by hammering marble instead. We are all sculptors and painters, and our material is our own flesh and blood and bones. Any nobleness begins at once to refine a man's features, any meanness or sensuality to imbrute them.
Henry David ThoreauRead
Do you want to know the cause of war? It is capitalism, greed, the dirty hunger for dollars. Take away the capitalist and you will sweep war from the earth.
Henry FordRead
This is essentially a people's contest... whose leading object is to elevate the condition of men - to lift artificial weights from all shoulders - to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all - to afford all, an unfettered start and a fair chance, in the race of life.
Abraham LincolnRead
Every little increase in human freedom has been fought over ferociously between those who want us to know more and be wiser and stronger, and those who want us to obey and be humble and submit.
Philip PullmanRead
Karl Marx was right, socialism works, it is just that he had the wrong species
E. O. WilsonRead