Montpelier, VA…James Madison, March 16, 1751 – June 28, 1836.

“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.”

“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.”

“The means of defence against foreign danger, have been always the instruments of tyranny at home.”

“Liberty is to faction what air is to fire, an aliment without which it instantly expires.”

“It will be of little avail to the people, that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood.”

“In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”

“The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.”

“Oppressors can tyrannize only when they achieve a standing army, an enslaved press, and a disarmed populace.”