A monarchy is a merchantman which sails well, but will sometimes strike on a rock, and go to the bottom; a republic is a raft which will never sink, but then your feet are always in the water.

Fisher Ames

More information about this quote

Topic

Monarchy Democracy Downsides of democracy Political theory

Speaker

Fisher Ames

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1795 1790s 18th century

Occupation

Politician

From

United States

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Ames, Fisher. Address in the House of Representatives. House of Representatives. 1795, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Current Citation

Ames, Fisher. Quoted in A Miracle Mirrored: The Dutch Republic in European Perspective, written by Henk van Nierop, edited by Karel Davids and Jan Lucassen. Cambridge University Press, 2011, ch. 2.

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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote from the 1790s

He who binds to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy;
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity's sunrise.

William Blake

More information about this quote
Topic
Letting go

Author

William Blake
Medium
Poem
Statement Type
Paradox
Language
English
Time
1792 1790s 18th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Blake, William. Poem written in his notebook. c. 1792.

Current Citation

Blake, William. "Eternity." William Blake: Selected Poems, edited by Nicholas Shrimpton. Oxford University Press, 2019.

Another quote about Political theory

Liberty is to faction what air is to fire, an aliment without which it instantly expires. But it could not be less folly to abolish liberty, which is essential to political life, because it nourishes faction, than it would be to wish the annihilation of air, which is essential to animal life, because it imparts to fire its destructive agency.

James Madison

Federalist 10

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More information about this quote
Topic
Political faction Political conflict Political theory Politics

Author

James Madison
Source
Federalist 10 The Federalist Papers
Medium
Essay
Genre
Political literature
Language
English
Time
1787 1780s 18th century
Era
American Revolutionary Period
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Madison, James [published as Publius]. "Federalist No. 10: The Same Subject Continued: The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection." Daily Advertiser, 22 Nov. 1787.

Current Citation

Madison, James. "No. 10: An extensive republic a remedy for mischiefs of faction.--Madison." The Federalist: A Commentary on the Constitution of the United States, edited by Robert Scigliano. The Modern Library, 2001.

Another quote from the following genre Political speech

It is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced.

Frederick Douglass

What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?

More information about this quote
Topic
American slavery American Civil War
Speaker
Frederick Douglass
Source
What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?
Medium
Speech
Genre
Political speech
Language
English
Time
1852 1850s 19th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Douglass, Frederick. Speech to the Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society. 5 July 1852, Corinthian Hall, Rochester, NY, USA.

Current Citation

Douglass, Frederick. "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? An Address." Frederick Douglass: Speeches & Writings, edited by David W. Blight. Library of America, 2022.