Quote #11

There is a power in public opinion in this country-and I thank God for it: for it is the most honest and best of all powers-which will not tolerate an incompetent or unworthy man to hold in his weak or wicked hands the lives and fortunes of his fellow-citizens.

More from Martin Van Buren

  1. The people under our system, like the king in a monarchy, never dies.
  2. To avoid the necessity of a permanent debt and its inevitable consequences, I have advocated and endeavored to carry into effect the policy…
  3. The less government interferes with private pursuits, the better for general prosperity.
  4. Unlike all who have preceded me, the Revolution that gave us existence as one people was achieved at the period of my birth; and whilst I c…
  5. On receiving from the people the sacred trust twice confided on my illustrious predecessor, and which he has discharged so faithfully and s…
  6. Mutual forbearance and reciprocal concessions: thro' their agency the Union was established - the patriotic spirit from which they emanated…
  7. No evil can result from its inhibition more pernicious than its toleration.
  8. Those who have wrought great changes in the world never succeeded by gaining over chiefs; but always by exciting the multitude. The first i…

All Martin Van Buren quotes