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Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right [...] to knowledge, [...] an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge, I mean, of the characters and conduct of their rulers.

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Freedom

More quotes by John Adams

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

There is, in the human Breast, a social Affection, which extends to our whole Species.

Every measure of prudence, therefore, ought to be assumed for the eventual total extirpation of slavery from the United States.

Letter to Robert J. Evans (1819)

The world grows more enlightened. Knowledge is more equally diffused.

Discourses on Davila (1790)

Tyranny can scarcely be practised upon a virtuous and wise people.

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You have to start with the truth. The truth is the only way that we can get anywhere. Because any decision-making that is based upon lies or ignorance can't lead to a good conclusion.

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What constitutes the bulwark of our own liberty and independence?

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Science and religion are two human enterprises sharing many features.

Freeman Dyson Infinite in All Directions (1988)

There is no governor anywhere; you are all absolutely free. There is no restraint that cannot be escaped.

Robert Anton Wilson

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.