Quote #39

The right of the people to keep and bear...arms shall not be infringed. A well regulated militia, composed of the people, trained to arms, is the best and most natural defense of a free country... -- I Annals of Congress 434 (June 8, 1789).

More from James Madison

  1. Crisis is the rallying cry of the tyrant.
  2. Oppressors can tyrannize only when they achieve a standing army, an enslaved press, and a disarmed populace.
  3. We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all o…
  4. It is a settled policy of America, that as peace is better than war, war is better than tribute. The United States, while they wish for war…
  5. If man is not fit to govern himself, how can he be fit to govern someone else?
  6. Conscience is the most sacred of all property.
  7. All men having power ought to be mistrusted.
  8. Congress shall never disarm any citizen unless such as are or have been in actual rebellion.

All James Madison quotes