Alexander Hamilton was a critical Government Official figure. He created the U.S. financial system. His writing and career are still noteworthy today as they were in the 19th century. The following Alexander Hamilton quotes show why he was such an important person.
Call him an Economic expert, Journalist, Lawyer, Military Leader, Political Scientist. His name is written in gold in the pages of U.S. history.
Alexander Hamilton became the first treasury secretary during president George Washington’s time. He also fought in the battles of Long Island during the Revolutionary War. The below Alexander Hamilton quotes list some life lessons curated from his life.
Alexander Hamilton Quotes
1.“…American history can be told and retold, claimed and reclaimed, even by people who don’t look like George Washington and Betsy Ross.”
2.“Give all the power to the many, they will oppress the few. Give all the power to the few, they will oppress the many.”
3.“A well-adjusted person is one who makes the same mistake twice without getting nervous.”
4.“Those who stand for nothing fall for everything.”
5.“The art of reading is to skip judiciously.”
6.“I never expect a perfect work from an imperfect man.”
7.“A nation which can prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a master, and deserves one.”
8.“A powerful, victorious ally is yet another name for master.”
9.“Hard words are very rarely useful. Real firmness is good for everything. Strut is good for nothing.”
10.“The powers contained in a constitution…ought to be construed liberally in advancement of the public good.”
11.“Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of man will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint.”
See also: Martin Van Buren Quotes
12.“There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty that makes human nature rise above itself, in acts of bravery and heroism.”
13.“A promise must never be broken.”
14.“Real liberty is neither found in despotism or the extremes of democracy, but in moderate governments.”
15.“Men often oppose a thing merely because they have had no agency in planning it, or because it may have been planned by those whom they dislike.”
16.“There are seasons in every country when noise and impudence pass current for worth; and in popular commotions especially, the clamors of interested and factious men are often mistaken for patriotism.”
17.“You should not have taken advantage of my sensibility to steal into my affections without my consent.”
18.“The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the Hand of Divinity itself, and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power.”
19.“Men are reasoning rather than reasonable animals.”
20.“I have thought it my duty to exhibit things as they are, not as they ought to be.”
21.“If we must have an enemy at the head of government, let it be one whom we can oppose, and for whom we are not responsible. Heresies in either can rarely be cured by persecution.”
22.“The inquiry constantly is what will please, not what will benefit the people. In such a government there can be nothing but temporary expedient, fickleness, and folly.”
23.“An avaricious man might be tempted to betray the interests of the state for the acquisition of wealth.”
24.“When a people or family so divide, it never fails to be against themselves.”
25.“Am I then more of an American than those who drew their first breath on American Ground?”
26.“But the most common and durable source of factions has been the various and unequal distribution of property.”
27.“No man ought certainly to be a judge in his own cause, or in any cause in respect to which he has the least interest or bias.”
28.“The fate of an empire in many respects the most interesting in the world.”
29.“When a government betrays the people by amassing too much power and becoming tyrannical, the people have no choice but to exercise their original right of self-defense — to fight the government.”
30.“People sometimes attribute my success to my genius; all the genius I know anything about is hard work.”
31.“One great error is that we suppose mankind more honest than they are.”
32.“Foreign influence is truly the Grecian horse to a republic. We cannot be too careful to exclude its influence.”
33.“When the sword is once drawn, the passions of men observe no bounds of moderation.”
34.“There can be no profit in the making or selling of things to be destroyed in war. Men may think that they have such profit, but in the end the profit will turn out to be a loss.”
35.“The people alone have an incontestable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to institute government and to reform, alter, or totally change the same when their protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness require it.”
36.“Divisions at home would invite dangers from abroad.”
37.“A national debt, if it is not excessive, will be to us a national blessing.”
38.“Constitutions should consist only of general provisions; the reason is that they must necessarily be permanent, and that they cannot calculate for the possible change of things.”
39.“Even to observe neutrality you must have a strong government.”
40.“Here, sir, the people govern; here they act by their immediate representatives.”
41.“I think the first duty of society is justice.”
42.“In the general course of human nature, A power over a man’s subsistence amounts to a power over his will.”
43.“Every individual of the community at large has an equal right to the protection of government.”
44.“A feeble executive implies a feeble execution of the government. A feeble execution is but another phrase for a bad execution; and a government ill executed, whatever may be its theory, must be, in practice, a bad government.”
45.“As to Taxes, they are evidently inseparable from Government. It is impossible without them to pay the debts of the nation, to protect it from foreign danger, or to secure individuals from lawless violence and rapine. No man in his senses can hesitate in choosing to be free, rather than a slave.”
46.“Civil liberty is only natural liberty, modified and secured by the sanctions of civil society. It is not a thing, in its own nature, precarious and dependent on human will and caprice; but it is conformable to the constitution of man, as well as necessary to the well-being of society.”
47.“The natural cure for an ill-administration, in a popular or representative constitution, is a change of men.”
48.“For my part, I sincerely esteem the Constitution, a system which without the finger of God, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests.”
49.“Who talks most about freedom and equality? Is it not those who hold the bill of rights in one hand and a whip for affrighted slaves in the other?”
50.“The people are turbulent and changing; they seldom judge right or make good decision.”
51.“Death doesn’t discriminate between the sinners and the saints, it takes and it takes and it takes, and we keep living anyway.”
52.“I know my sister like I know my own mind; you will never find anyone as trusting or as kind.”
53.“Why do you write like you’re running out of time?”
54.“Vigor of government is essential to the security of liberty.”
55.“The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed.”
56.“As to religion a moderate stock will satisfy me. She must believe in god and hate a saint.”
57.“God help and forgive me, I wanna build something that’s gonna outlive me. What do you want Burr?”
58.“A fondness for power is implanted, in most men, and it is natural to abuse it, when acquired.”
59.“And it proves, in the last place, that liberty can have nothing to fear from the judiciary alone, but would have everything to fear from its union with either of the other departments.”
60.“Experience is the oracle of truth; and where its responses are unequivocal, they ought to be conclusive and sacred.”
61.“I will venture to assert that no combination of designing men under heaven will be capable of making a government unpopular which is in its principles a wise and good one, and vigorous in its operations.”
62.“In all very numerous assemblies, of whatever character composed, passion never fails to wrest the sceptre from reason. … Had every Athenian citizen been a Socrates, every Athenian assembly would still have been a mob.”
63.“Industry is increased, commodities are multiplied, agriculture and manufacturers flourish: and herein consists the true wealth and prosperity of a state.”
64.“It will not be too strong to say, that there will be a constant probability of seeing the station [of President] filled by characters pre-eminent for ability and virtue.”
65.“Law is defined to be a rule of action; but how can that be a rule, which is little known, and less fixed?”
66.“Let us recollect that peace or war will not always be left to our option; that however moderate or unambitious we may be, we cannot count upon the moderation, or hope to extinguish the ambition of others.”
67.“The Liberty of the press consists in the right to publish with impunity truth with good motives for justifiable ends, though reflecting on government, magistracy, or individuals.”
68.“How can you trust people who are poor and own no property? … Inequality of property will exist as long as liberty exists.”
69.“A dangerous ambition more often lurks behind the specious mask of zeal for the rights of the people.”
70.“Sound policy condemns the practice of accumulating debts.”
71.“This reflection derives additional strength from the nature of the debt of the United States. It was the price of liberty. The faith of America has been repeatedly pledged for it, and with solemnities, that give peculiar force to the obligation [of paying off the debt].”
72.“And as the vicissitudes of Nations beget a perpetual tendency to the accumulation of debt, there ought to be in every government a perpetual, anxious and unceasing effort to reduce that, which at any time exists, as fast as shall be practicable consistently with integrity and good faith.”
73.“States, like individuals, who observe their engagements [pay off their debts], are respected and trusted: while the reverse is the fate of those, who pursue an opposite conduct.”
Related: John Quincy Adams Quotes and Rutherford B. Hayes Quotes
Alexander Hamilton Video – Founding Father and Statesman
In this short must watch video, Biography discusses how Hamilton set America on a course for greatness as the first US Secretary of the treasury.
This is a great quick overview if you are interested in learning more about Hamilton!
Related: James Madison’s Best Quotes
Conclusion – let Hamilton Inspire Your Week
This immigrant and war hero was not only a sharp politician and businessman. This American icon later became the hip-hop musical sensation of the world.
Do you know that Hamilton didn’t receive any formal education? By self-study he still worked as a lawyer. He showed that hard work and determination were more important than being genius.
He never wasted time in procrastination. He always dressed impeccably, looking sharp for his work. He honored his commitments and didn’t think much of his enemies.
The above Alexander Hamilton quotes show that if you are driven to make your own place, the world can’t stop you.
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