The founding leaders of America were witty. Profound. Snide. Wise. Determined. Cynical. Devout. Practical. Inspirational. And hilarious.
Here are 80 of the best quotes from revolutionary era heroes. People who, like us, lived their lives for a cause they believed in.
You might find these useful in your sermon prep. And in your social posts. And for your own amusement and inspiration.
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Get the Best Quotes from America’s Founding Leaders.
Benjamin Franklin
“Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards.”
“How many observe Christ’s birthday! How few, his precepts! O! ’tis easier to keep Holidays than Commandments.”
“Have you something to do tomorrow; do it today.”
“Wish not so much to live long as to live well.”
“I never knew a man who was good at making excuses who was good at anything else.”
“Fear God, and your enemies will fear you.”
“The best thing to give to your enemy is forgiveness; to an opponent, tolerance; to a friend, your heart; to your child, a good example; to a father, deference; to your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you; to yourself, respect; to all others, charity.”
“By improving yourself, the world is made better. Be not afraid of growing too slowly. Be afraid only of standing still.”
“Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see.”
“Those who beat their swords into plowshares usually end up plowing for those who kept their swords.”
“If you do tomorrow what you did today , you will get tomorrow what you got today.”
“Money has never made man happy, nor will it, there is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more of it one has the more one wants.”
“For every minute spent in organizing, an hour is earned.”
“I didn’t fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong.”
“A good conscience is a continual Christmas.”
George Washington
“Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for ’tis better to be alone than in bad company.”
“Let your heart feel for the afflictions and distress of everyone, and let your hand give in proportion to your purse.”
“No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States.”
“The liberty enjoyed by the people of these states of worshiping Almighty God agreeable to their consciences, it not only among the choicest of their blessings, but also of their rights.”
“It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.”
Thomas Jefferson
“On matters of style, swim with the current, on matters of principle, stand like a rock.”
“One man with courage is a majority.”
“I find that as I grow older, I love those most whom I loved first.”
“Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.”
“Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. it is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing.”
“When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.”
“Traveling makes a man wiser, but less happy.”
“When angry, count ten before your speak; if very angry, a hundred.”
“Difficulties indeed sometimes arise, but common sense and honest intentions will generally steer through them.”
“Encourage all your virtuous dispositions, and exercise them whenever an opportunity arises; being assured that they will gain strength by exercise, as a limb to the body does, and that exercise will make them habitual.”
Thomas Paine
“I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.”
“The reformation was preceded by the discovery of America, as if the Almighty graciously meant to open a sanctuary to the persecuted in future years, when home should afford neither friendship nor safety.”
“When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary.”
“If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.”
“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.”
“The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind. Where, some say, is the king of America? I’ll tell you, friend, He reigns above.”
Noah Webster
“The virtues of men are of more consequence to society than their abilities; and for this reason, the heart should be cultivated with more assiduity than the head.”
Abigail Adams
“A little of what you call frippery is very necessary towards looking like the rest of the world.”
“I begin to think, that a calm is not desirable in any situation in life. Man was made for action and for bustle too, I believe.”
“I’ve always felt that a person’s intelligence is directly reflected by the number of conflicting points of view he can entertain simultaneously on the same topic.”
“Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of husbands. Remember all men would be tyrants if they could.”
“My Dear Son… remember that you are accountable to your Maker for all your words and actions.”
“It’s never to late to get back on your feet; though we won’t live forever make sure you accomplish what you were put here for.”
“I hate to complain…No one is without difficulties, whether in high or low life, and every person knows best where their own shoe pinches.”
“To be good, and do good, is the whole duty of man comprised in a few words.”
“Great difficulties may be surmounted by patience and perseverance.”
“Heaven grant me that I may thus rejoice in my children, thus see them ornaments to their Country, and blessings to their parents.”
“What is it that affectionate parents require of their Children; for all their care, anxiety, and toil on their accounts? Only that they would be wise and virtuous, Benevolent and kind.”
John Adams
“I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is a disgrace, that two become a law firm, and that three or more become a congress.”
“I read my eyes out and can’t read half enough…the more one reads the more one sees we have to read.”
“Thanks to God that he gave me stubbornness when I know I am right.”
“Always stand on principle….even if you stand alone.”
Aaron Burr
“Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow. Delay may give clearer light as to what is best to be done.”
John Hancock
“The interposition of Divine Providence in our Favour hath been most abundantly and most graciously manifested, and the Citizens of these United States have every Reason for Praise and Gratitude to the God of their Salvation.”
“A chip on the shoulder is too heavy a piece of baggage to carry through life.”
“…that all may bow to the scepter of our Lord Jesus Christ and that the whole Earth may be filled with his glory.”
Paul Revere
“No matter what you do, you’ll never run away from you.”
James Madison
“The future and success of America is not in this Constitution, but in the laws of God upon which this Constitution is founded.”
“The problem to be solved is, not what form of government is perfect, but which of the forms is least imperfect.”
“Cursed be all that learning that is contrary to the cross of Christ.”
Alexander Hamilton
“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.”
“The first duty of society is justice.”
“A well adjusted person is one who makes the same mistake twice without getting nervous.”
“For my part, I sincerely esteem the Constitution, a system which without the finger of God, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests.”
Martha Washington
“I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition.”
Dolley Madison
“It is one of my sources of happiness never to desire a knowledge of other people’s business.”
Patrick Henry
“It can not be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ!”
“The Bible is worth all the other books which have ever been printed.”
“The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.”
“Doctor, I wish you to observe how real and beneficial the religion of Christ is to a man about to die….I am, however, much consoled by reflecting that the religion of Christ has, from its first appearance in the world, been attacked in vain by all the wits, philosophers, and wise ones, aided by every power of man, and its triumphs have been complete.”
John Quincy Adams
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”
“From the day of the Declaration…they (the American people) were bound by the laws of God, which they all, and by the laws of The Gospel, which they nearly all, acknowledge as the rules of their conduct.”
“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.”
“Try and fail, but don’t fail to try.”
“I have myself, for many years, made it a practice to read through the Bible once ever year…. 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….”
“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.”
“Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.”
“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. Never since the foundation of the world have the prospects of mankind been more encouraging to that hope than they appear to be at the present time. And may the associated distribution of the Bible proceed and prosper till the Lord shall have made ‘bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God’ (Isaiah 52:10).”
“There is such seduction in a library of good books that I cannot resist the temptation to luxuriate in reading.”
“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.”
“A stout heart, a clear conscience, and never despair.”
“No book in the world deserves to be so unceasingly studied, and so profoundly meditated upon as the Bible.”
“Every temptation is an opportunity of our getting nearer to God.”
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Hal Seed is the founding and Lead Pastor of New Song Community Church in Oceanside, CA. He mentors pastors who want to lead healthy, growing churches with resources at www.pastormentor.com.
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These quotes were lovely and inspirational. Thank you!
Thanks for sharing all this soul searching quotes.