The rights of Englishmen are derived from God, not from king or Parliament, and would be secured by the study of history, law, and tradition.
John AdamsMr. Adams, describing a conversation with Jonathan Sewall in 1774, says: "I answered that the die was now cast; I had passed the Rubicon. Swim or sink, live or die, survive or perish with my country was my unalterable determination."
John AdamsAs the happiness of the people is the sole end of government, so the consent of the people is the only foundation of it.
John AdamsI must judge for myself, but how can I judge, how can any man judge, unless his mind has been opened and enlarged by reading.
John AdamsThe furnace of affliction produces refinement in states as well as individuals. And the new Governments we are assuming in every part will require a purification from our vices, and an augmentation of our virtues, or there will be no blessings.
John AdamsGovernment is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people; and not for profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men; therefore, the people alone have an incontestable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to institute government; and to reform, alter, or totally change the same, when their protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness require it.
John Adams