Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.
AUTHOR QUOTES
Quotes by Alexander Hamilton
Explore 25 verified and sourced quotes attributed to Alexander Hamilton. Open any quote for its dedicated page, source details and related topics.
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Selected quotes by Alexander Hamilton
There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty, that makes human nature rise above itself, in acts of bravery and heroism.
It's not tyranny we desire; it's a just, limited, federal government.
A well adjusted person is one who makes the same mistake twice without getting nervous.
I think the first duty of society is justice.
Unless your government is respectable, foreigners will invade your rights; and to maintain tranquillity, it must be respectable - even to observe neutrality, you must have a strong government.
A national debt, if it is not excessive, will be to us a national blessing.
Real liberty is neither found in despotism or the extremes of democracy, but in moderate governments.
Power over a man's subsistence is power over his will.
Learn to think continentally.
Constitutions should consist only of general provisions; the reason is that they must necessarily be permanent, and that they cannot calculate for the possible change of things.
Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of man will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint.
Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice, without constraint.
I never expect to see a perfect work from an imperfect man.
Men often oppose a thing merely because they have had no agency in planning it, or because it may have been planned by those whom they dislike.
When the sword is once drawn, the passions of men observe no bounds of moderation.
Here, sir, the people govern; here they act by their immediate representatives.
Let us recollect that peace or war will not always be left to our option; that however moderate or unambitious we may be, we cannot count upon the moderation, or hope to extinguish the ambition of others.
The voice of the people has been said to be the voice of God; and, however generally this maxim has been quoted and believed, it is not true to fact. The people are turbulent and changing, they seldom judge or determine right.
In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.
The nation which can prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a master and deserves one.
The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of the divinity itself; and can never be erased.
In politics, as in religion, it is equally absurd to aim at making proselytes by fire and sword. Heresies in either can rarely be cured by persecution.
A promise must never be broken.
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