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Government has no right to hurt a hair on the head of an atheist for his opinions. Let him have a care of his practices.

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Source, in full

Letter to John Quincy Adams (16 June 1816). Adams Papers (microfilm), reel 432, Library of Congress. James H. Hutson (ed.), The Founders on Religion: A Book of Quotations. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2007, p. 20

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Atheism

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A pen is certainly an excellent instrument to fix a man's attention and to inflame his ambition.

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Attribution

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