#028: “Unbridled by Morality”

1798 — “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a religious and moral people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.”¹

1814 — “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.”² 

1816 — “Power always thinks it has great soul and vast views beyond the comprehension of the weak, and that it is doing God’s service when it is violating all his laws.”³
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1.Letter to the Officers of the First Brigade of the Third Division of the Militia of Massachusetts (1798-10-11) Ref: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Adams
2. Letter to John Taylor (1814-04-15); Ref: Wikiquote.org
3. Letter to Thomas Jefferson (1816-02-02) : Ref: Wikiquote.org

John Adams (October 30, 1735[a] – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of the American Revolution that achieved independence from Great Britain, and he served as the first vice president of the United States. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adams