John Quincy Adams
So great is my veneration for the Bible, and so strong my belief, that when duly read and meditated on, it is of all books in the world, that which contributes most to make men good, wise, and happy---that the earlier my children begin to read it, the more steadily they pursue the practice of reading it throughout their lives, the more lively and confident will be my hopes that they will prove useful citizens to their country, respectable members of society, and a real blessing to their parents.
-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 Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity?
-John Quincy Adams
(In a speech on July 4, 1837)
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 Adams
A man to be a Christian must believe in God, in the Bible, in the Divinity of the Savior's mission, and in a future state of rewards and punishments.
-John Quincy Adams
ALWAYS VOTE FOR PRINCIPLE, THOUGH YOU MAY VOTE ALONE, AND YOU MAY CHERISH THE SWEETEST REFLECTION THAT YOUR VOTE IS NEVER LOST.
-John Quincy Adams
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
(Inaugural address)
From the day of the Declaration, the people of the North American union, and of its constituent states, were associated bodies of civilized men and Christians, in a state of nature, but not of anarchy. They were bound by the laws of God, which they all, and by the laws of the Gospel, which they nearly all, acknowledged as the rules of their conduct.
-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
I have myself, for many years, made it a practice to read through the Bible once every year. I have always endeavored to read it with the same spirit and temper of mind which I now recommend to you; that is, with the intention and desire that it contribute to my advancement in wisdom and virtue. My desire is indeed very imperfectly successful;for, like you, and like the Apostle Paul, "I find a law in my members, warring against the laws of my mind." But as I know that it is my nature to be imperfect, so I know that it is my duty to aim at perfection;and feeling and deploring my own frailties, I can only pray Almighty God, for the aid of his Spirit to strengthen my good desires, and to subdue my propensities to evil;for it is from him, that every good and every perfect gift descends. My custom is, to read four to five chapters every morning immediately after rising from my bed. I employs about an hour of my time.
-John Quincy Adams
(To his son.)
To respect the rights of the State governments is the inviolable duty of that of the Union;the government of every State will feel its own obligation to respect and preserve the rights of the whole.
-John Quincy Adams
Duty is ours;results are God's.
-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 manners of women are the surest criterion by which to determine whether a republican government is practicable in a nation or not. The Jews, the Greeks, the Romans, the Swiss, the Dutch, all lost their public Spirit, their Republican Forms of Government, when they lost the Modesty and Domestic Virtues of their Women.
-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.