Marquis De Lafayette Quotes

I had displeased the jacobins by blaming their aristocratic usurpation of legitimate powers; the priests of all sorts by claiming religious liberty; the anarchists by repressing them; and the conspirators by rejecting their offers.
I have found a unique opportunity to distinguish myself and to learn my trade. I am a general officer in the army of the United States of America. My zeal in their cause and my frankness have won their trust.
I read, I study, I examine, I listen, I think, and out of all that I try to form an idea into which I put as much common sense as I can.
I shall ask for the abolition for the punishment of death until I have the infallibility of human judgment demonstrated to me.
If the king refuses the constitution, I shall oppose him; if he accepts it, I shall defend him; and the day on which he gave himself up as my prisoner secured me more fully to his service than if he had promised me half his kingdom.
In America there are none poor, and none even that can be called peasants. Each citizen has some property, and all citizens have the same rights as the richest individual, or landed proprietor, in the country.
It is foolishly thought by some that democratical constitutions will not, cannot, last; that the States will quarrel with each other; that a king, or at least a nobility, are indispensable for the prosperity of a nation.
It is necessary above all that the citizens, who have rallied round the constitution, should be assured that the rights it guarantees will be respected with such a scrupulous fidelity as will reduce to despair its enemies, hidden or avowed.
It is the pride of my heart to have been one of the earliest adopted sons of America.
It was by a Maryland colonel in the year 1777 that the British received, in the gallant defense of an important fort, one of the first lessons of what they were to expect from American valor and patriotism.
Laws must be clear, precise, and uniform for all citizens.
Let not ambition take possession of you; love the friends of the people, but reserve blind submission for the law and enthusiasm for liberty.
May the friends of America rejoice! May her enemies be humbled and her censors silenced at the news of her noble exertions in continuance of those principles which have placed her so high in the annals of history and among the nations of the earth.
May the States be so bound to each other as forever to defy European politics. Upon that union, their consequence, their happiness, will depend. This is the first wish of a heart more truly American than words can express.
May these happy United States attain that complete splendour and prosperity which will illustrate the blessings of their government, and for ages to come rejoice the departed souls of their founders!
My grand affair appears settled, for America is certain of her independence, humanity has gained her cause, and liberty will never be without a place of refuge.
My heart has always been truly convinced that in serving the cause of America, I am fighting for the interests of France.
Nature has made men free and equal. The distinctions necessary for social order are only founded on general utility.
Never was a man further from a partiality for Spain than I am. But I think I now have left them in a sincere and steady intention to cultivate the friendship of America.
No man can be subject to any laws, excepting those which have received the assent of himself or his representatives and which are promulgated beforehand and applied legally.
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