"Adams wished to warn his fellow Americans against all revolutionary manifestos that envisioned a fundamental break with the past and a fundamental transformation in human nature or society that supposedly produced a new age. All such utopian expectations were illusions, he believed, driven by what he called "ideology," the belief that imagined ideals, so real and seductive in theory, were capable of being implemented in the world. . . . His insistence that elites were unavoidable realities in all societies, however, made him vulnerable to the charge of endorsing aristocratic rule in America, when in fact he was attempting to suggest that the inevitable American elite must be controlled, its ambitions channeled toward public purposes. . . . Although misunderstood by many of his contemporaries, the realistic perspective that Adams proposed - and the skepticism toward utopian schemes he insisted upon - has achieved considerable support in the wake of the failed 20th-century attempts at social transformation in the communist bloc."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Presidents of the United StatesLawyers from the United StatesVice Presidents of the United StatesFounding Fathers of the United States of AmericaDiplomats of the United States
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
John Adams
1797 – 1801
John Adams (30 October 1735 – 4 July 1826) was an American lawyer, author, statesman, and diplomat. He served as the second president of the United States (1797–1801), the first vice president (1789–1797), and as a Founding Father was a leader of American independence from the British Empire. Adams was a political theorist in the Age of Enlightenment who promoted republicanism and a strong central government. His innovative ideas were frequently published. He was also a dedicated diarist and cor
184 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by John Adams →
Related Quotes
"You will never be alone with a poet in your pocket."
"All the perplexities, confusions, and distresses in America arise, not from defects in their constitution or confeder…"
"The Science of Government it is my Duty to study, more than all other Sciences: the Art of Legislation and Administra…"
"Great Britain has been moving earth and hell to obtain allies against us, yet it is improper in us to propose an alli…"
"Thanks be to God, that he gave me Stubborness, when I know I am right."
"Neither my father or mother, grandfather or grandmother, great grandfather or great grandmother, nor any other relati…"
"There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its …"
"If the Christian religion, as I understand it, or as you understand it, should maintain its ground, as I believe it w…"
"The invasion of Georgia and South Carolina is the first. But why should the invasion of these two States affect the c…"
"The new Government has my best Wishes and most fervent Prayers, for its Success and Prosperity: but whether I shall h…"