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I tread in the footsteps of illustrious men... in receiving from the people the sacred trust confided to my illustrious predecessor.

— Martin Van Buren Inaugural address (1837)

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More quotes by Martin Van Buren

All the lessons of history and experience must be lost upon us if we are content to trust alone to the peculiar advantages we happen to possess.

Inaugural address (1837)

There is a power in public opinion in this country -and I thank God for it: for it is the most honest and best of all powers- which will not tolerate an incompetent or unworthy man to hold in his weak or wicked hands the lives and fortunes of his fellow-citizens.

How imperious, then, is the obligation imposed upon every citizen, in his own sphere of action, whether limited or extended, to exert himself in perpetuating a condition of things so singularly happy.

Inaugural address (1837)

From a small community we have risen to a people powerful in numbers and in strength; but with our increase has gone hand in hand the progress of just principles.

Inaugural address (1837)

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