List of John C. Calhoun Quotes

Democracy, As I Understand It, Requires Me To Sacrifice Myself For The Masses, Not To Them. Who Knows Not That If You Would Save The People, You Must Often Oppose Them?

Property Is In Its Nature Timid And Seeks Protection, And Nothing Is More Gratifying To Government Than To Become A Protector.

I Never Know What South Carolina Thinks Of A Measure. I Never Consult Her. I Act To The Best Of My Judgment, And According To My Conscience. If She Approves, Well And Good. If She Does Not, Or Wishes Any One To Take My Place, I Am Ready To Vacate. We Are Even.

To Maintain The Ascendancy Of The Constitution Over The Lawmaking Majority Is The Great And Essential Point On Which The Success Of The [american] System Must Depend; Unless That Ascendancy Can Be Preserved, The Necessary Consequence Must Be That The Laws Will Supersede The Constitution; And, Finally, The Will Of The Executive, By Influence Of Its Patronage, Will Supersede The Laws . . .

The Error Is In The Assumption That The General Government Is A Party To The Constitutional Compact. The States ... Formed The Compact, Acting As Sovereign And Independent Communities.

A Revolution In Itself Is Not A Blessing.

The Surrender Of Life Is Nothing To Sinking Down Into Acknowledgment Of Inferiority.

It Is Federal, Because It Is The Government Of States United In A Political Union, In Contradistinction To A Government Of Individuals, That Is, By What Is Usually Called, A Social Compact. To Express It More Concisely, It Is Federal And Not National Because It Is The Government Of A Community Of States, And Not The Government Of A Single State Or Nation.

Protection And Patriotism Are Reciprocal.

True Consistency, That Of The Prudent And The Wise, Is To Act In Conformity With Circumstances, And Not To Act Always The Same Way Under A Change Of Circumstances.

How Can Those Who Are Invested With The Power Of Government Be Prevented From The Abuse Of Those Powers As The Means Of Aggrandizing Themselves? ... Without A Strong Constitution To Counteract The Strong Tendency Of Government To Disorder And Abuse There Can Be Little Progress Or Improvement.

The Interval Between The Decay Of The Old And The Formation And Establishment Of The New Constitutes A Period Of Transition Which Must Always Necessarily Be One Of Uncertainty, Confusion, Error, And Wild And Fierce Fanaticism.