[John] Adams never hid his jealousy and resentment of the other Founders, especially Benjamin Franklin.

History is the queen of the humanities. It teaches wisdom and humility, and it tells us how things change through time.

The relationship between [John] Adams and [Tomas] Jefferson was extraordinary. They differed on every conceivable issue, except on the Revolution and the love of their country.

[Benjamin] Franklin may be a great philosopher, [John Adams] told his diary in 1779, but "as a Legislator in America he has done very little."

By 1782 [John Adams] had come to feel for [Benjamin] Franklin "no other sentiments than Contempt or Abhorrence."

If history teaches anything, it teaches humility.

Americans, [John Adams] wrote in 1780, believed that their "revolution is as much for the benefit of the generality of Mankind in Europe, as for their own."

More than any other figure in our history [Tomas] Jefferson is responsible for the idea of American exceptionalism.

[Tomas] Jefferson believed that the United States was a chosen nation with a special responsibility to spread democracy around the world.

It was [John's Adams] Massachusetts constitution if anything that influenced people.

[John Adams' writings] had indicted the United States for slavishly copying the English constitution by erecting bicameral legislatures in their state constitutions, most drafted in 1776.

I loved him as we always love for the first time

Look under your bed and you will know the greatest thief in your room.

You've got to have a villain and they'll always make me a villain. I'm used to it - it makes me work harder and it makes me fight harder.

If I had the choice between smoked salmon and tinned salmon, I'd have it tinned. With vinegar.

Well I've been writing books. So that, by its nature, is kind of a solitary occupation. And from time to time I have research help, but mostly I've done those completely on my own.

It is frustrating, because who wants to grow up and follow their parents?

All around the world, people believe that there is a great conflict between good and evil. Well, it's true that there's a conflict, but it only exists in the human mind.

Dreams are great. When they disappear you may still be there, but you will have ceased to live.

Home is where the books are

Truly effective and inspiring leaders aren’t actually driven to lead people; they are driven to serve them.