John Adams:
"It would be a pity for a man who's handed down hundreds of wise decisions from the bench to be remembered only for the one unwise decision he made in Congress."
Abigail Adams:
"Have you forgotten what you used to say to me, I haven't. Commitment, Abby, commitment. There are only two creatures of value on the face of this earth - those with a commitment and those who require the commitment of others. Do you remember John?"
Benjamin Franklin:
"What do you think, Doctor? Democracy. What Plato called "A charming form of government, full of variety and disorder". I never knew Plato had been to Philadelphia."
Thomas Jefferson:
"Just a moment, Mr. Thomson. I do not consent. The king is a tyrant whether we say so or not. We might as well say so."
Charles Thomson:
"But I already scratched it out."
Thomas Jefferson:
"Then scratch it back in!"
John Hancock:
"Put it back, Mr. Thomson. The King will remain a tyrant."
John Adams:
"Good God, consider yourselves fortunate that you have John Adams to abuse, for no sane man would tolerate it!"
Benjamin Franklin:
"No wonder the man couldn't write! Who could think of independence being married to her?"
John Adams:
"Oh, good God"
Hopkins:
"Well, in all my years I ain't never heard, seen nor smelled an issue that was so dangerous it couldn't be talked about. Hell yeah! I'm for debating anything. Rhode Island says yea!"
Benjamin Franklin:
"Congratulations, John. You just made your greatest contribution to Independence: you kept your flap shut."
John Adams:
"They won't be happy until they remove one of the F's from Jefferson's name!"
Hopkins:
"Ah, Ben! I want you to see some cards I'd gone and had printed up. Oughta save everybody here a lot of time and effort, considering the epidemic of bad disposition that's been going on around here lately. "Dear Sir, you are without any doubt, a rogue, a rascal, a villain, a thief, a scoundrel, and a mean, dirty, stinking, sniveling, sneaking, pimping, pocket-picking, thrice double-damned no-good son of a bitch." and you sign your name - what do you think?"
Ben Franklin:
"I'll take a dozen, right now."
Ben Franklin:
"If we do not hang together, we shall most assuredly hang separately!"
John Adams:
" [reading a note tossed down from Jefferson] "Dear Mr. Adams, I am taking my wife back to bed. Kindly go away. Your obedient, T. Jefferson." Incredible!"
Ben Franklin:
"You know, perhaps I should have written the Declaration. At my age there's little doubt that the pen is mightier than the sword."
John Dickinson:
" Fortunately, the people maintain a higher regard for their mother country."
Ben Franklin:
"Higher, certainly, than she feels for them. Never was such a valuable possession so stupidly and recklessly managed, than this entire continent by the British crown. Our industry discouraged, our resouces pillaged... worst of all our very character stifled. We've spawned a new race here, Mr. Dikinson. Rougher, simpler; more violent, more enterprising; less refined. We're a new nationality. We require a new nation."
John Dickinson:
"Mr. Jefferson, are you seriously suggesting that we publish a paper declaring to all the world that an illegal rebellion is, in reality, a legal one?"
Ben Franklin:
"Oh, Mr. Dickinson, I'm surprised at you. You should know that rebellion is always legal in the first person, such as "our rebellion." It is only in the third person - "their rebellion" - that it is illegal."
Ben Franklin:
"Be careful, Mr. Dickinson. Those who would give up some of their liberty in order to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
John Adams:
"At a stage in life when other men prosper, I'm reduced to living in Philadelphia."
John Adams:
"A second flood, a simple famine, plagues of locusts everywhere, or a cataclysmic earthquake, I'd accept with some despair. But no, You sent us Congress! Good God, Sir, was that fair?"
John Adams:
"This is a revolution, dammit! We're going to have to offend SOMEbody!"
John Adams:
"Good God, you don't mean... they're not going to...? In the middle of the afternoon?"
Ben Franklin:
"Not everybody's from Boston, John!"
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