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The House is composed of very good men, not shining, but honest and reasonably well-informed, and in time they will be found to improve, and not to be much inferior in eloquence, science, and dignity, to the British Commons. They are patriotic enough, and I believe there are more stupid (as well as more shining) people in the latter, in proportion.

— Fisher Ames

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More quotes by Fisher Ames

I consider biennial elections as a security that the sober, second thought of the people shall be law.

The gentleman puts me in mind of an old hen which persists in setting after her eggs are taken away.

Memoirs of Theophilus Parsons (1859)

Liberty has never yet lasted long in a democracy; nor has it ever ended in any thing better than despotism.

American Literature (1805)

The known propensity of a democracy is to licentiousness, which the ambitious call, and the ignorant believe to be, liberty.

The Dangers of American Liberty (1805)

The rights of conscience, of bearing arms, of changing the government, are declared to be inherent in the people. Freedom of the press, too.

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