The 45 Best and Famous Quotes by the Founding Fathers

Famous Quotes by the Founding Fathers – The founding fathers are one of the most prominent figures in American history. Even outside America, there many who know these men. Each founding father has their story but all of them have given speeches with inspiring lines. Oftentimes, they have delivered memorable lines that can be used today. While not everyone is a history buff or know these all men’s stories, they do have their share of prominent and quotable lines. Here are some of the most Famous Quotes by the Founding Fathers:

• “Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.”
  – Benjamin Franklin
  
• To be good, and to do good, is all we have to do.”
  – John Adams
  
• “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal…”
  – Thomas Jefferson
  
• “Those who stand for nothing fall for everything.”
  – Alexander Hamilton
  
• “Truth will ultimately prevail where pains is taken to bring it to light.”
  – George Washington
  
• “Well done is better than well said.”
  – Benjamin Franklin
  
• “The people are the only legitimate fountain of power.”
  – James Madison
  
• “It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.”
  – George Washington
  
• “As a man is said to have a right to his property, he may be equally said to have a property in his rights.”
  –James Madison
  
• “It does not take a majority to prevail … but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brush fires of freedom in the minds of men.”
  – Samuel Adams

Additional Famous Quotes

• “The circulation of confidence is better than the circulation of money.”
  – James Madison
  
• “Always stand on principle…even if you stand alone.”
  – John Adams
  
• “Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth.”
  – George Washington
  
• “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”
  – Benjamin Franklin
  
• “If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.”
  – Thomas Jefferson
  
• “To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions.”
  – Benjamin Franklin
  
• “Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.”
  – John Adams
  
• “The harder the conflict, the greater the triumph.”
  – George Washington
  
• “Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.”
  – Benjamin Franklin
  
• “Distrust naturally creates distrust, and by nothing is good will and kind conduct more speedily changed.”
  – John Jay

Inspiring and Thought-provoking Quotes by the Founding Fathers

• “Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.”
  – Thomas Jefferson
  
• “Energy and persistence conquer all things.”
  – Benjamin Franklin
  
• “My first wish is to see this plague of mankind, war, banished from the earth.”
  – George Washington
  
• “No power on earth has a right to take our property from us without our consent.”
  – John Jay
  
• “The only thing that is more expensive than education is ignorance.”
  – Benjamin Franklin
  
• “I never expect a perfect work from an imperfect man.”
  – Alexander Hamilton
  
• “Wear none of thine own chains; but keep free, whilst thou art free.”
  – William Penn
  
• “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.”
  – Thomas Jefferson
  
• “Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom.”
  – John Adams
  
• “It is far better to be alone, than to be in bad company.”
  – George Washington
  
• “If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.”
  – James Madison
  
• “Old minds are like old horses; you must exercise them if you wish to keep them in working order.”
  – John Adams
  
• “Our unalterable resolution should be to be free.”
  – Sam Adams
  
• “Law is whatever is boldly asserted and plausibly maintained.”
  – Aaron Burr
  
• “Any government is free to the people under it where the laws rule and the people are a party to the laws.”
  – William Penn

Founding Father Quotes About Truth, Freedom, and More

• “The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted.”
  – James Madison
  
• “I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is the best policy.”
  – George Washington
  
• “Knowledge will forever govern ignorance.”
  – James Madison
  
• “Friendship is one of the distinguishing glories of man… From this I expect to receive the chief happiness of my future life.”
  – John Adams
  
• “Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence — true friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.”
  – George Washington
  
• “The wise and the good never form the majority of any large society and it seldom happens that their measures are uniformly adopted…”
  – John Jay
  
• “Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.”
  – Thomas Jefferson
  
• “Freedom and not servitude is the cure of anarchy; as religion, and not atheism, is the true remedy for superstition.”
  – Edmund Burke
  
• “To be good, and to do good, is all we have to do.”
  – John Adams
  
• “Liberty may be endangered by the abuses of liberty as well as by the abuses of power.”
  – James Madison

Check out more famous quotes with our “Famous Inauguration Quotes” and “Famous Quotes About Judging Others.”