110+ John Quincy Adams Quotes On Democracy, Education And Aging

John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States from 1825 to 1829. He was the son of the second President, John Adams, and served as Secretary of State under James Monroe. He was a strong advocate for American nationalism and was instrumental in the acquisition of Florida from Spain. Following is our collection on famous quotes by John Quincy Adams on democracy, education, aging.

Top 10 John Quincy Adams Quotes

1. If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.
2. Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.
3. Try and fail,but don't fail to try.
4. 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.
5. Whoever tells the best story wins.
6. I inhabit a weak, frail, decayed tenement; battered by the winds and broken in on by the storms, and, from all I can learn, the landlord does not intend to repair.
7. The Sermon on the Mount commands me to lay up for myself treasures, not upon earth, but in Heaven. My hopes of a future life are all founded upon the Gospel of Christ.
8. America... goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all.
9. I have to study politics and war so that my sons can study mathematics, commerce and agriculture, so their sons can study poetry, painting and music.
10. America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy.

John Quincy Adams Short Quotes

• The freedom of the press should be inviolate.
• Duty is ours, results are God's.
• [I believe in the] rebuilding of Judea as an independent nation.
• From the experience of the past we derive instructive lessons for the future.
• All that I am my mother made me.
• Idleness is sweet, and its consequences are cruel.
• Every temptation is an opportunity of our getting nearer to God.
• Individual liberty is individual power.
• The Law given from Sinai was a civil and municipal as well as a moral and religious code.
• The magistrate is the servant not of his own desires, not even of the people, but of his God

John Quincy Adams Quotes About Aging

The experience of all former ages had shown that of all human governments, democracy was the most unstable, fluctuating and short-lived. — John Quincy Adams

It is no slight testimonial, both to the merit and worth of Christianity, that in all ages since its promulgation the great mass of those who have risen to eminence by their profound wisdom and integrity have recognized and reverenced Jesus of Nazareth as the Son of the living God. — John Quincy Adams

A man's diary is a record in youth of his sentiments, in middle age of his actions, in old age of his reflections. — John Quincy Adams

The public history of all countries, and all ages, is but a sort of mask, richly colored. The interior working of the machinery must be foul. — John Quincy Adams

John Quincy Adams Quotes About Vanish

Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air. These qualities have ever been displayed in their mightiest perfection, as attendants in the retinue of strong passions. — John Quincy Adams

Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish. — John Quincy Adams

Find a mission that you can give yourself over to and then spend your days moving that mission forward. Man is made so that when anything fires his soul the impossibilities vanish. The influence of each human being on others in this life is a kind of immortality. — John Quincy Adams

Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air. — John Quincy Adams

John Quincy Adams Famous Quotes And Sayings

...he [Muhammad] declared undistinguishing and exterminating war, as a part of his religion, against all the rest of mankind...The precept of the Koran is, perpetual war against all who deny, that Mahomet is the prophet of God. — John Quincy Adams

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. — John Quincy Adams

Whenever vanity and gaiety, a love of pomp and dress, furniture, equipage, buildings, great company, expensive diversions, and elegant entertainments get the better of the principles and judgments of men and women, there is no knowing where they will stop, nor into what evils, natural, moral, or political, they will lead us. — John Quincy Adams

All the public business in Congress now connects itself with intrigues, and there is great danger that the whole government will degenerate into a struggle of cabals. — John Quincy Adams

The art of making love, muffled up in furs, in the open air, with the thermometer at Zero, is a Yankee invention. — John Quincy Adams

Slavery is the great and foul stain upon the North American Union. A dissolution, at least temporary, of the Union, as now constituted, would now be certainly necessary. The Union might then be reorganized on the fundamental principle of emancipation. — John Quincy Adams

All men profess honesty as long as they can. To believe all men honest would be folly. To believe none so is something worse. — John Quincy Adams

I would much rather be found guilty of making a serious mistake in judgment, than to be accused of being even a little bit insincere. — John Quincy Adams

Not stones, nor wood, nor the art of artisans make a state; but where men are who know how to take care of themselves, these are cities and walls. — John Quincy Adams

My stern chase after time is, to borrow a simile from Tom Paine, like the race of a man with a wooden leg after a horse. — John Quincy Adams

Civil liberty can be established on no foundation of human reason which will not at the same time demonstrate the right of religious freedom. — John Quincy Adams

The Bible contains the revelation of the will of God. It contains the history of the creation of the world, and of mankind. — John Quincy Adams

The manners of women are the surest criterion by which to determine whether a republican government is practicable in a nation or not. — John Quincy Adams

There is in the clergy of all Christian denominations a time-serving, cringing, subservient morality, as wide from the spirit of the gospel as it is from the intrepid assertion and vindication of truth. — John Quincy Adams

What is the right of the huntsman to the forest of a thousand miles over which he has accidentally ranged in quest of prey? Shall the fields and vallies, which a beneficent God has formed to teem with the life of innumerable multitudes, be condemned to everlasting barrenness? — John Quincy Adams

Individual liberty is individual power, and as the power of a community is a mass compounded of individual powers, the nation which enjoys the most freedom must necessarily be in proportion to its numbers the most powerful nation. — John Quincy Adams

We understand now, we've been made to understand, and to embrace the understanding that who we are is who we were. — John Quincy Adams

There is such seduction in a library of good books that I cannot resist the temptation to luxuriate in reading. — John Quincy Adams

Those who take oaths to politically powerful secret societies cannot be depended on for loyalty to a democratic republic. — John Quincy Adams

[America's] glory is not dominion, but liberty. Her march is the march of the mind. She has a spear and a shield: but the motto upon her shield is Freedom, Independence, Peace. This has been her declaration: this has been, as far as her necessary intercourse with the rest of mankind would permit, her practice. — John Quincy Adams

The Bible carries with it the history of the creation, the fall and redemption of man, and discloses to him, in the infant born at Bethlehem, the Legislator and Savior of the world. — John Quincy Adams

The law given from Sinai was a civil and municipal as well as a moral and religious code; it contained many statutes . . . of universal application-laws essential to the existence of men in society, and most of which have been enacted by every nation which ever professed any code of laws. — John Quincy Adams

Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Saviour? — John Quincy Adams

The natural state of mankind ... and I know that this is a controversial idea... is freedom... And the proof is the lengths to which a man, woman, or child will go to regain it once lost. He will break loose his chains. He will decimate his enemies. He will try and try and try again, against all odds, against all prejudices. — John Quincy Adams

The hope of a Christian is inseparable from his faith. Whoever believes in the Divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures must hope that the religion of Jesus shall prevail throughout the earth. — John Quincy Adams

In charity to all mankind, bearing no malice or ill will to any human being, and even compassionating those who hold in bondage their fellow men, not knowing what they do. — John Quincy Adams

I want a warm and faithful friend, To cheer the adverse hour; Who ne'er to flatter will descend, Nor bend the knee to power,- A friend to chide me when I'm wrong, My inmost soul to see; And that my friendship prove as strong For him as his for me. — John Quincy Adams

The will of the people is the source and the happiness of the people the end of all legitimate government upon earth. — John Quincy Adams

Wherever the standard of freedom and independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will be America's heart, her benedictions and her prayers. — John Quincy Adams

And may that Being who is supreme over all, the Patron of order, the Fountain of justice, and the Protector, in all ages of the world, of virtuous liberty, continue His blessing upon this nation and its government, and give it all possible success and duration, consistent with the ends of His providence. — John Quincy Adams

This is the last of earth! I am content. — John Quincy Adams

Religious discord has lost her sting; the cumbrous weapons of theological warfare are antiquated: the field of politics supplies the alchymists of our times with materials of more fatal explosion, and the butchers of mankind no longer travel to another world for instruments of cruelty and destruction. — John Quincy Adams

The extremes of opulence and of want are more remarkable, and more constantly obvious, in [Great Britain] than in any other place that I ever saw. — John Quincy Adams

Our political way of life is by the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God, and of course presupposes the existence of God, the moral ruler of the universe, and a rule of right and wrong, of just and unjust, binding upon man, preceding all institutions of human society and government. — John Quincy Adams

The first and almost the only Book deserving of universal attention is the Bible. — John Quincy Adams

The laws of man may bind him in chains or may put him to death, but they never can make him wise, virtuous, or happy. — John Quincy Adams

Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day (the 4th of July)? Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior?. — John Quincy Adams

Where annual elections end where slavery begins. — John Quincy Adams

My hopes of a future life are all founded upon the Gospel of Christ and I cannot cavil or quibble away... the whole tenor of His conduct by which He sometimes positively asserted and at others countenances His disciples in asserting that He was God. — John Quincy Adams

So great is my veneration for the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectable members of society. I have for many years made it a practice to read through the Bible once every year. — John Quincy Adams

Life is a problem; mortal man was made to solve the solemn problem right or wrong. — John Quincy Adams

The barbarian chieftain, who defended his country against the Roman invasion, driven to the remotest extremity of Britain, and stimulating his followers to battle, by all that has power of persuasion upon the human heart, concludes his exhortation by an appeal to these irresistible feelings - "Think of your forefathers and of your posterity." — John Quincy Adams

Among the sentiments of most powerful operation upon the human heart, and most highly honorable to the human character, are those of veneration for our forefathers and of love for our posterity. — John Quincy Adams

To a man of liberal education, the study of history is not only useful, and important, but altogether indispensable, and with regard to the history contained in the Bible ...it is not so much praiseworthy to be acquainted with as it is shameful to be ignorant of it. — John Quincy Adams

A stout heart, a clear conscience, and never despair. — John Quincy Adams

So far as the object of taxation is to raise a revenue for discharging the debts and defraying the expenses of the community, its operation should be adapted as much as possible to suit the burden with equal hand upon all in proportion with their ability of bearing it without oppression. — John Quincy Adams

The imagination of a eunuch dwells more and longer upon the material of love than that of man or woman ... supplying, so far as he can, by speculation, the place of pleasures he can no longer enjoy. — John Quincy Adams

However tiresome to others, the most indefatigable orator is never tedious to himself. The sound of his own voice never loses its harmony to his own ear; and among the delusions, which self-love is ever assiduous in attempting to pass upon virtue, he fancies himself to be sounding the sweetest tones — John Quincy Adams

The best guarantee against the abuse of power consists in the freedom, the purity, and the frequency of popular elections. — John Quincy Adams

I have for many years made it a practice to read through the Bible once every year. — John Quincy Adams

To furnish the means of acquiring knowledge is the greatest benefit that can be conferred upon mankind. It prolongs life itself, and enlarges the sphere of existence. — John Quincy Adams

Whether to the nation or to the state, no service can be or ever will be rendered by a more able or a more faithful public servant. — John Quincy Adams

We know the redemption must come. — John Quincy Adams

To preserve, to improve, and to perpetuate the sources and to direct in their most effective channels the streams which contribute to the public weal is the purpose for which Government was instituted. — John Quincy Adams

Man wants but little here below Nor wants that little long, 'Tis not with me exactly so; But 'tis so in the song. My wants are many, and, if told, Would muster many a score; And were each wish a mint of gold, I still should long for more. — John Quincy Adams

It is by a thorough knowledge of the whole subject that [people] are enabled to judge correctly of the past and to give a proper direction to the future. — John Quincy Adams

I appear, my fellow-citizens, in your presence and in that of Heaven to bind myself by the solemnities of religious obligation to the faithful performance of the duties allotted to me in the station to which I have been called. — John Quincy Adams

It has been my custom for many years to read the Bible in its entirety once a year — John Quincy Adams

I want the seals of power and place, the ensigns of command, charged by the people's unbought grace, to rule my native land. Nor crown, nor scepter would I ask but from my country's will, by day, by night, to ply the task her cup of bliss to fill. — John Quincy Adams

The Constitution had provided that all the public functionaries of the Union...should be under oath or affirmation for its support. The homage of religious faith was thus superadded to all the obligations of temporal law to give it strength. — John Quincy Adams

Who but shall learn that freedom is the prize Man still is bound to rescue or maintain; That nature's God commands the slave to rise, And on the oppressor's head to break the chain. Roll, years of promise, rapidly roll round, Till not a slave shall on this earth by found. — John Quincy Adams

The harmony of the nation is promoted and the whole Union is knit together by the sentiments of mutual respect, the habits of social intercourse, and the ties of personal friendship formed between the representatives of its several parts in the performance of their service at this metropolis. — John Quincy Adams

About one-half of the members of Congress are seekers for office at the nomination of the President. Of the remainder, at least one-half have some appointment or favor to ask for their relatives. — John Quincy Adams

I shall look for whatever success may attend my public service; and knowing that "except the Lord keep the city the watchman waketh but in vain," with fervent supplications for His favor, to His overruling providence I commit with humble but fearless confidence my own fate and the future destinies of my country. — John Quincy Adams

America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own. Sir Anthony Hopkins portrayal of me was adequate. I do believe that my sideburns were of substantially higher quality, however. — John Quincy Adams

A barbarian who could not write a sentence of grammar and hardly could spell his own name.... One of our tribe of great men who turn disease to commodity...he craves the sympathy for sickness as a portion of his glory. — John Quincy Adams

My custom is to read four or five chapters of the Bible every morning immediately after rising. It seems to me the most suitable manner of beginning the day. It is an invaluable and inexhaustible mine of knowledge and virtue. — John Quincy Adams

Death fixes forever the relation existing between the departed spirit and the survivors upon earth. — John Quincy Adams

This hand, to tyrants ever sworn the foe, For Freedom only deals the deadly blow; Then sheathes in calm repose the vengeful blade, For gentle peace in Freedom's hallowed shade. — John Quincy Adams

The gigantic intellect, the envious temper, the ravenous ambition and the rotten heart of Daniel Webster. — John Quincy Adams

The influence of each human being on others in this life is a kind of immortality. — John Quincy Adams

The firmest security of peace is the preparation during peace of the defenses of war. — John Quincy Adams

Occasional war is one of the rigorous instruments in the hands of Providence to give tone to the character of nations. — John Quincy Adams

I speak as a man of the world to men of the world; and I say to you, Search the Scriptures! The Bible is the book of all others, to be read at all ages, and in all conditions of human life; not to be read once or twice or thrice through, and then laid aside, but to be read in small portions of one or two chapters every day, and never to be intermitted, unless by some overruling necessity. — John Quincy Adams

Religion, charity, pure benevolence, and morals, mingled up with superstitious rites and ferocious cruelty, form in their combination institutions the most powerful and the most pernicious that have ever afflicted mankind. — John Quincy Adams

America, with the same voice which spoke herself into existence as a nation, proclaimed to mankind the inextinguishable rights of human nature, and the only lawful foundations of government. — John Quincy Adams

It is essential..that you should form and adopt certain rules or principles, for the government of your own conduct and temper. Unless you have such rules and principles, there will be numberless occasions on which you will have no guide for your government but your passions..It is in the Bible, you must learn them, and from the Bible how to practice them. — John Quincy Adams

Let us not be unmindful that liberty is power, that the nation blessed with the largest portion of liberty must in proportion to its numbers be the most powerful nation upon earth. — John Quincy Adams

We know the redemption must come. The time and the manner of its coming we know not: It may come in peace, or it may come in blood; but whether in peace or in blood, LET IT COME. — John Quincy Adams

Let us consider an alternative style of thinking, which we can call 'creative thinking.' It is playfully instructive to note that the word 'reactive' and the word 'creative' are made up of exactly the same letters. The only difference between the two is that you 'C' [see] differently. — John Quincy Adams

La molesse est douce, et sa suite est cruelle. — John Quincy Adams

Westward the star of empire takes its way. — John Quincy Adams

May our country be always successful, but whether successful or otherwise, always right. — John Quincy Adams

Life Lessons by John Quincy Adams

1. John Quincy Adams taught the importance of hard work, dedication, and perseverance. He worked diligently throughout his life, both in his political career and in his personal life, to achieve his goals and make a positive impact on the world.
2. He also showed that it is possible to remain true to one’s values and principles while still being successful. He was an advocate for civil rights and a proponent of peace and diplomacy, and he was able to make a lasting impact on the nation’s politics.
3. Lastly, Adams demonstrated the importance of never giving up, even in the face of adversity. He faced numerous setbacks throughout his life, but he never stopped striving for what he believed in.