His face is livid, gaunt his whole body, his breath is green with gall; his tongue drips poison.
John Quincy AdamsRead
Slavery is the great and foul stain upon the North American Union.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Slavery represents a significant moral failure in the history of the United States.
In this quote, John Quincy Adams emphasizes the profound moral and ethical degradation that slavery inflicted on the fabric of the North American Union. He denotes slavery not just as a social issue but as a fundamental stain that tarnishes the nation's principles and values, highlighting the need for acknowledgment and rectification of this injustice.
Themes
SlaveryJusticeMoralityHistoryAmericaUnion
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on American history, one might use this quote to discuss the moral implications of slavery.
More from John Quincy Adams
All quotes βAlways 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?
John Quincy AdamsRead
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.
John Quincy AdamsRead
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
Similar quotes
Vietnam was the defining event for my generation. It spilled over into all facets of American life - into music, into the pulpits, in churches of our country. It spilled over into the city streets, police forces. And even if you were born late in the generation, Vietnam was still part of your childhood.
Tim O'BrienRead
All the old history was written for the amusement of the ruling classes. The lower classes couldn't read, and their rulers didn't care about remembering what happened to them.
Frank ZappaRead
Some of the most moving experiences I've had are just in black churches in the South, during the Civil Rights Movement, where people were getting beaten, killed, really struggling for the most elementary rights.
Noam ChomskyRead
One constant among the elements of 1914βas of any eraβwas the disposition of everyone on all sides not to prepare for the harder alternative, not to act upon what they suspected to be true.
Barbara TuchmanRead
Apart from the intrinsic interest of the complex system of beliefs the Puritans carried with them, their lives give a clue to what it meant at the beginning to be American. And the level of scholarship dealing with them has reached a point where it can address the human condition itself.
Edmund MorganRead
One thing that struck me in my study of history is how people are excluded. I don't mean just racial minorities or women. Pretty much all poor people who don't have documents are excluded from history and its records. People who were illiterate usually didn't leave any primary documents.
Min Jin LeeRead