"I am more and more convinced that man is a dangerous creature; and that power, whether vested in many or a few, is ever grasping, and, like the grave, cries, “Give, give!” The great fish swallow up the small; and he who is most strenuous for the rights of the people, when vested with power, is as eager after the prerogatives of government. You tell me of degrees of perfection to which human nature is capable of arriving, and I believe it, but at the same time lament that our admiration should arise from the scarcity of the instances."
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Unitarians from the United StatesPeople from MassachusettsWomen born before the 19th centuryFeminists from the United StatesUnited States First ladies
Original Language: English
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Letter to John Adams (27 November 1775)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abigail_Adams
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Abigail Adams
Abigail Smith Adams (November 11, 1744 – October 28, 1818) was the wife of John Adams, the second president of the United States, and is retrospectively perceived as the second First Lady of the United States; the term was not coined until after she had died. She was also the mother of John Quincy Adams.
29 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Abigail Adams →
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