John Adams Quotes

Power ought to serve as a check to power.

Power should be a check to power.

Freedom is not a concept in which people can do anything they want, be anything they can be. Freedom is about authority.

When those who are governed do too little, those who govern can - and often will - do too much.

But who guards the guardians?

Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.

The essence of a free government consists in an effectual control of rivalries.

Who will observe the observers?

I am not invested with dictatorial powers. If I were, I should be quite ready to dictate.

What the proprietorship of these papers is aiming at is power, and power without responsibility—the prerogative of the harlot throughout the ages.

There's value in checks and balances. And there's value in having independence in the governor's office with respect to the legislature.

Balance is a good thing - checks and balances are a good thing.

The power of the presidency is important, but it is not determinative.

I like the idea of democracy. You have to have someone everyone distrusts.

One uses power by grasping it lightly. To grasp too strongly is to be taken over by power, and thus to become its victim.

Freedom is not possible without authority - otherwise it would turn into chaos and authority is not possible without freedom - otherwise it would turn into tyranny.

If you have no power, talk about your influence. If you have power, talk about the constraints that hem you in.

Force and right are the governors of this world; force till right is ready.

It is necessary from the very nature of things that power should be a check to power.

As freedom is the only safeguard of governments, so are order and moderation generally necessary to preserve freedom.

Trust is fine, but control is better.

America is not a country that wanders around trusting people with power. This is a country that wants accountability.

Power, in whatever hands, is rarely guilty of too strict limitations on itself.

The tension between the governed and the governing is what makes the world go 'round. It's not love, it's that tension, because that tension exists in love affairs. The whole idea of control is at the heart of human relationships. Control and resistance to control.

Power remains strong when it remains in the dark; exposed to the sunlight it begins to evaporate.