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Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air. These qualities have ever been displayed in their mightiest perfection, as attendants in the retinue of strong passions.

— John Quincy Adams Oration at Plymouth (1802)

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More quotes by John Quincy Adams

To furnish the means of acquiring knowledge is … the greatest benefit that can be conferred upon mankind. It prolongs life itself and enlarges the sphere of existence.

Report on the establishment of the Smithsonian Institution (1846)

The conflict between the principle of liberty and the fact of slavery is coming gradually to an issue. Slavery has now the power, and falls into convulsions at the approach of freedom.

He devoted himself, his life, his fortune, his hereditary honors, his towering ambition, his splendid hopes, all to the cause of liberty.

Oration on Lafayette (1834)

Pronounce him one of the first men of his age, and you have yet not done him justice.

Oration on Lafayette (1834)

This is the last of Earth! I am content.

All John Quincy Adams quotes →

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Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.

William Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1599)

All doubt is cowardice — all trust is brave.

Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Courage is never born with a person; time and circumstances inject it into a person and bring it forth from within.

Sanu Sharma

Christianity offers reasons for not fearing death or the universe, and in so doing it fails to teach adequately the virtue of courage.

Bertrand Russell Education and the Social Order (1932)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: John Quincy Adams (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.