Let us recollect that peace or war will not always be left to our option; that however moderate or unambitious we may be, we cannot count upon the moderation, or hope to extinguish the ambition of others.
—Alexander Hamilton
In politics, as in religion, it is equally absurd to aim at making proselytes by fire and sword. Heresies in either can rarely be cured by persecution.
—Alexander Hamilton
The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed.
—Federalist No. 46
Real firmness is good for anything; strut is good for nothing.
—Alexander Hamilton
Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.
—Alexander Hamiton
It will be of little avail to the people, that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood: if they be repealed or revised before they are promulged, or undergo such incessant changes, that no man who knows what the law is to-day, can guess what it will be to-morrow.
—Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 62
