Abigail Adams

History is not a web woven with innocent hands. Among all the causes which degrade and demoralize men, power is the most constant and most active.

I begin to think, that a calm is not desirable in any situation in life. . . . Man was made for action and for bustle too, I believe.

I am more and more convinced that man is a dangerous creature; and that power, whether vested in many or a few, is ever grasping, and like the grave, cries "Give, give!"