50 Quotes by Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was an American statesman, politician, and Founding Father who played a crucial role in the formation of the United States. He was born on January 11, 1755, in the British West Indies and immigrated to the United States in 1772. Hamilton was a leading advocate for a strong central government and played a key role in drafting the United States Constitution. He also served as the first Secretary of the Treasury under President George Washington and was instrumental in establishing the country's financial system. Hamilton was killed in a duel with political rival Aaron Burr on July 12, 1804, in Weehawken, New Jersey. (Bio)
Alexander Hamilton Quotes
A nation which can prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a master, and deserves one. (Meaning)
It's not tyranny we desire; it's a just, limited, federal government. (Quote Meaning)
A well adjusted person is one who makes the same mistake twice without getting nervous. (Meaning)
A fondness for power is implanted in most men, and it is natural to abuse it when acquired. (Quote Meaning)
We must make the best of those ills which cannot be avoided. (Meaning)
I have thought it my duty to exhibit things as they are, not as they ought to be. (Quote Meaning)
When the sword is once drawn, the passions of men observe no bounds of moderation. (Meaning)
You should not have taken advantage of my sensibility to steal into my affections without my consent. (Quote Meaning)
The art of reading is to skip judiciously. (Meaning)
Here sir, the people govern. (Quote Meaning)
Laws are a dead letter without courts to expound and define their true meaning and operation. (Meaning)
A national debt, if it is not excessive, will be to us a national blessing. (Quote Meaning)
Even to observe neutrality you must have a strong government. (Meaning)
[V]igor of government is essential to the security of liberty. (Quote Meaning)
Nobody expects to trust his body overmuch after the age of fifty. (Meaning)
In the main it will be found that a power over a man's support (salary) is a power over his will. (Quote Meaning)
Here, sir, the people govern; here they act by their immediate representatives. (Meaning)
Man is a reasoning rather than a reasonable animal. (Quote Meaning)
If it be asked, What is the most sacred duty and the greatest source of our security in a Republic? The answer would be, An inviolable respect for the Constitution and Laws. (Meaning)
Power over a man's subsistence is power over his will. (Quote Meaning)
Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint. (Meaning)
A national debt will be to us a national blessing. (Quote Meaning)
I think the first duty of society is justice. (Meaning)
I never expect to see a perfect work from an imperfect man. (Quote Meaning)
The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. (Meaning)
There are seasons in every country when noise and impudence pass current for worth. (Quote Meaning)
The voice of the people has been said to be the voice of God. (Meaning)
Learn to think continentally. (Quote Meaning)
Opinion, whether well or ill-founded, is the governing principle of human affairs. (Meaning)
Those who stand for nothing fall for everything. (Quote Meaning)
Real firmness is good for anything; strut is good for nothing. (Meaning)
A promise must never be broken. (Quote Meaning)
Give all the power to the many, they will oppress the few. Give all the power to the few, they will oppress the many. (Meaning)
When a government betrays the people by amassing too much power and becoming tyrannical, the people have no choice but to exercise their original right of self-defense — to fight the government.
People sometimes attribute my success to my genius; all the genius I know anything about is hard work.
One great error is that we suppose mankind more honest than they are.
A sacred respect for the constitutional law is the vital principle, the sustaining energy of a free government.
The people alone have an incontestable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to institute government and to reform, alter, or totally change the same when their protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness require it.
Man is either governed by his own laws - freedom - or the laws of another - slavery. Are you willing to become slaves? Will you give up your freedom, your life and your property without a single struggle? No man has a right to rule over his fellow creatures.
There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty, that makes human nature rise above itself, in acts of bravery and heroism.
A nation which can prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a master, and deserves one.
Foreign influence is truly the Grecian horse to a republic. We cannot be too careful to exclude its influence.
Men give me credit for some genius. All the genius I have lies in this; when I have a subject in hand, I study it profoundly. Day and night it is before me. My mind becomes pervaded with it. Then the effort that I have made is what people are pleased to call the fruit of genius. It is the fruit of labor and thought.
Men often oppose a thing merely because they have had no agency in planning it. (Quote Meaning)
It's not tyranny we desire; it's a just, limited, federal government.
[S]ound policy condemns the practice of accumulating debts.
The loss of liberty to a generous mind is worse than death.
The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed. (Meaning)
The practice of arbitrary imprisonments have been, in all ages, the favorite and most formidable instruments of tyranny.
The states have authority to interpret the Constitution, enforce it, and protect the people from violations of it by the federal government In the first place, there is not a syllable in the plan under consideration which directly empowers the national courts to construe the laws according to the spirit of the Constitution, or which gives them any greater latitude in this respect than may be claimed by the courts of every State.
The law... dictated by God Himself is, of course, superior in obligation to any other. It is binding over all the globe, in all countries, and at all times. No human laws are of any validity if contrary to this.
A fondness for power is implanted in most men, and it is natural to abuse it when acquired.
Remember civil and religious liberty always go together: if the foundation of the one be sapped, the other will fall of course.
A well-adjusted person is one who makes the same mistake twice without getting nervous. (Quote Meaning)
We are now forming a republican government. Real liberty is never found in despotism or the extremes of democracy, but in moderate governments.
You should not have taken advantage of my sensibility to steal into my affections without my consent.
We are attempting, by this Constitution, to abolish factions, and to unite all parties for the general welfare.
― Alexander Hamilton Quotes
Chief Editor
Tal Gur is an author, founder, and impact-driven entrepreneur at heart. After trading his daily grind for a life of his own daring design, he spent a decade pursuing 100 major life goals around the globe. His journey and most recent book, The Art of Fully Living, has led him to found Elevate Society.
