If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be nec… - James Madison

If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.

If men were angels, no government would be necessary.

What is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.

Those who are to conduct a war cannot in the nature of things, be proper or safe judges, whether a war ought to be commenced, continued, or concluded. Thy are barred from the latter functions by a great principle in free government, analogous to that which separates the sword from the purse, or the power of executing from the power of enacting laws.

Cursed be all that learning that is contrary to the cross of Christ.

I entirely concur in the propriety of restoring to the sense in which the Constitution was accepted and ratified by the nation. In that sense alone it is a legitimate constitution. And, if that be not the guide in expounding it, there can be no security for consistent and stable government.