His face is livid, gaunt his whole body, his breath is green with gall; his tongue drips poison.
John Quincy AdamsRead
It is among the evils of slavery that it taints the very sources of moral principle. It establishes false estimates of virtue and vice: for what can be more false and heartless than this doctrine which makes the first and holiest rights of humanity to depend upon the color of the skin?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote criticizes slavery for corrupting moral values and establishing unjust distinctions based on race.
John Quincy Adams highlights the moral depravity that arises from slavery, arguing that it distorts the foundational principles of virtue and vice. He points out the inherent injustice of a system that ties fundamental human rights to the color of one's skin, suggesting that this doctrine is both heartless and fundamentally flawed.
Themes
SlaveryMoralityHuman RightsInjusticeRace
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech advocating for racial equality, one could use this quote to emphasize the moral implications of slavery.
More from John Quincy Adams
All quotes →Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.
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The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.
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I have no predilection for unpopularity as such, but I hold it much preferable to the popularity of a day, which perishes with the transient topic upon which it is grounded.
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According to the Stoics, all vice was resolvable into folly: according to the Christian principle, it is all the effect of weakness.
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I speak as a man of the world to men of the world; and I say to you, Search the Scriptures! The Bible is the book of all others, to be read at all ages, and in all conditions of human life; not to be read once or twice or thrice through, and then laid aside, but to be read in small portions of one or two chapters every day, and never to be intermitted, unless by some overruling necessity.
John Quincy AdamsRead
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