Quotes by Abigail Adams

Abigail Adams

Wife of John Adams

Lived from: 1744 - 1818

Category: Politics Country: FlagUnited States

Born: 22 november 1744 Died: 28 october 1818

  • 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.

Quotes 1 till 20 of 20.

  • A little of what you call frippery is very necessary towards looking like the rest of the world.
    Letter to John Adams (1 May 1780)
    ― Abigail Adams
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  • Arbitrary power is like most other things which are very hard, very liable to be broken.
    ― Abigail Adams
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  • Deliver me from your cold phlegmatic preachers, politicians, friends, lovers and husbands.
    Letter to John Adams (5 August 1776)
    ― Abigail Adams
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  • Great necessities call out great virtues.
    ― Abigail Adams
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  • 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.
    ― Abigail Adams
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  • I begin to think, that a calm is not desirable in any situation in life....Man was made for action and for bustle too, I believe.
    ― Abigail Adams
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  • I regret the narrow contracted education of the females of my own country.
    Letter to John Adams (30 June 1778)
    ― Abigail Adams
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  • I wish most sincerely there was not a slave in this province. It always appeared a most iniquitous scheme to me - to fight ourselves for what we are daily robbing and plundering from those who have as good a right to freedom as we have.
    Letter to John Adams (24 September 1774)
    ― Abigail Adams
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  • I've always felt that a person's intelligence is directly reflected by the number of conflicting points of view he can entertain simultaneously on the same topic.
    ― Abigail Adams
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  • If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice, or representation.
    ― Abigail Adams
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  • If we mean to have heroes, statesmen and philosophers, we should have learned women.
    ― Abigail Adams
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  • In the new Code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If perticular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebelion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.
    Letter to John Adams, 31 March 1776
    ― Abigail Adams
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  • It is really mortifying, sir, when a woman possessed of a common share of understanding considers the difference of education between the male and female sex, even in those families where education is attended to.... Nay why should your sex wish for such a disparity in those whom they one day intend for companions and associates. Pardon me, sir, if I cannot help sometimes suspecting that this neglect arises in some measure from an ungenerous jealousy of rivals near the throne.
    Letter to John Thaxter, 15 February 1778
    ― Abigail Adams
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  • Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.
    ― Abigail Adams
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  • Patriotism in the female sex is the most disinterested of all virtues. Excluded from honors and from offices, we cannot attach ourselves to the State or Government from having held a place of eminence.... Yet all history and every age exhibit instances of patriotic virtue in the female sex; which considering our situation equals the most heroic of yours.
    Letter to John Adams, 17 June 1782
    ― Abigail Adams
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  • The reins of government have been so long slackened, that I fear the people will not quietly submit to those restraints which are necessary for the peace and security of the community.
    Letter to John Adams (27 November 1775)
    ― Abigail Adams
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  • These are times in which a genius would wish to live. It is not in the still calm of life, or the repose of a pacific station, that great characters are formed.... Great necessities call out great virtues.
    Letter to John Quincy Adams, 19 January 1780
    ― Abigail Adams
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  • We have too many high-sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them.
    ― Abigail Adams
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  • Well, knowledge is a fine thing, and mother Eve thought so; but she smarted so severely for hers, that most of her daughters have been afraid of it since.
    ― Abigail Adams
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  • Wisdom and penetration are the fruit of experience, not the lessons of retirement and leisure. Great necessities call out great virtues.
    ― Abigail Adams
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Questions and Answers

What are the most famous quotes from Abigail Adams?

The two most famous quotes from Abigail Adams are:

  • "A little of what you call frippery is very necessary towards looking like the rest of the world."
  • "Arbitrary power is like most other things which are very hard, very liable to be broken."

When did Abigail Adams live?

Abigail Adams was born in 1744 and died in the year 1818.