To believe all men honest would be folly; To believe none so is something worse

Today is the birthday of John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), the US president who said

America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own.

Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air.

Patience and perseverance have a magical affect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.

Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.

Posterity: you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it.

To live without having a Cicero and a Tacitus at hand seems to me as if it was aprivation of one of my limbs.

Regarding the anti-Americans' fall-back strategy of across-the-board cynicism when confronted with undeniable evidence that their champions have deep faults (often worse) of their own, the strategy that drops the accusatory and sneering bile to hold forth in a noncommital and ho-hum (and slightly impatient to change the subject) tone of voice that all politicians are equally corrupt and thiefs and liars:

All men profess honesty as long as they can. To believe all men honest would be folly. To believe none so is something worse.