Alexander Hamilton quotes

Alexander Hamilton was an American statesman, founding father, and the first Secretary of the Treasury. A key architect of the nation’s financial system, he contributed greatly to the writing of the Federalist Papers. He shaped the foundations of the United States government and remains a lasting figure in American history. Here are 177 of his quotes:

A nation which can prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a master, and deserves one.

Alexander Hamilton

A national debt, if it is not excessive, will be to us a national blessing.

Alexander Hamilton

Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice, without constraint.

Alexander Hamilton

I never expect a perfect work from an imperfect man.

Alexander Hamilton

A well adjusted person is one who makes the same mistake twice without getting nervous.

Alexander Hamilton

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 the divinity itself; and can never be erased.

Alexander Hamilton

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.

Alexander Hamilton

When the sword is once drawn, the passions of men observe no bounds of moderation.

Alexander Hamilton

And it is long since I have learned to hold popular opinion of no value.

Alexander Hamilton

Here, sir, the people govern; here they act by their immediate representatives.

Alexander Hamilton

In the usual progress of things, the necessities of a nation in every stage of its existence will be found at least equal to its resources.

Alexander Hamilton

Men are rather reasoning than reasonable animals, for the most part governed by the impulse of passion.

Alexander Hamilton

In the general course of human nature, A power over a man's subsistence amounts to a power over his will.

Alexander Hamilton

Learn to think continentally.

Alexander Hamilton

I have thought it my duty to exhibit things as they are, not as they ought to be.

Alexander Hamilton

A garden, you know, is a very usual refuge of a disappointed politician. Accordingly, I have purchased a few acres about nine miles from town, have built a house, and am cultivating a garden.

Alexander Hamilton

The courts must declare the sense of the law and if they should be disposed exercise will, instead of judgment, the consequences would be the substitution of their pleasure for that of the legislative body.

Alexander Hamilton

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.

Alexander Hamilton

Those who stand for nothing fall for everything.

Alexander Hamilton

Unless your government is respectable, foreigners will invade your rights; and to maintain tranquillity, it must be respectable - even to observe neutrality, you must have a strong government.

Alexander Hamilton

Every power vested in a government is in its nature sovereign, and includes by force of the term a right to employ all the means requisite ... to the attainment of the ends of such power.

Alexander Hamilton

If it were to be asked, What is the most sacred duty and the greatest source of our security in a Republic? The answer would be, An inviolable respect for the Constitution and Laws - the first growing out of the last . . . . A sacred respect for the constitutional law is the vital principle, the sustaining energy of a free government.

Alexander Hamilton