Leaders / Innovators

19 John Jay Quotes About Life (EDUCATION)

Top 12 Most Famous John Jay Quotes (BEST)

“This country and this people seem to have been made for each other, and it appears as if it was the design of Providence, that an inheritance so proper and convenient for a band of brethren, united to each other by the strongest ties, should never be split into a number of unsocial, jealous, and alien sovereignties.”

John Jay
Experience is a severe preceptor, but it teachers useful truths, and however harsh, is always honest.Pin
Experience is a severe preceptor, but it teachers useful truths, and however harsh, is always honest.
We must go home to be happy, and our home is not in this world. Here we have nothing to do but our duty.Pin
We must go home to be happy, and our home is not in this world. Here we have nothing to do but our duty.
No power on earth has a right to take our property from us without our consent.Pin
No power on earth has a right to take our property from us without our consent.
Distrust naturally creates distrust, and by nothing is good will and kind conduct more speedily changed.Pin
Distrust naturally creates distrust, and by nothing is good will and kind conduct more speedily changed.
Among the many objects to which a wise and free people find it necessary to direct their attention, that of providing for their safety seems to be the first.Pin
Among the many objects to which a wise and free people find it necessary to direct their attention, that of providing for their safety seems to be the first.

“Among the strange things of this world, nothing seems more strange than that men pursuing happiness should knowingly quit the right and take a wrong road, and frequently do what their judgments neither approve nor prefer.”

John Jay
To contend for our own liberty, and to deny that blessing to others, involves an inconsistency not to be excused.Pin
To contend for our own liberty, and to deny that blessing to others, involves an inconsistency not to be excused.
The wise and the good never form the majority of any large society and it seldom happens that their measures are uniformly adopted…Pin
The wise and the good never form the majority of any large society and it seldom happens that their measures are uniformly adopted…
It is too true, however disgraceful it may be to human nature, that nations in general will make war whenever they have a prospect of getting anything by it.Pin
It is too true, however disgraceful it may be to human nature, that nations in general will make war whenever they have a prospect of getting anything by it.
The jury has a right to judge both the law as well as the fact in controversy.Pin
The jury has a right to judge both the law as well as the fact in controversy.

“Prior to the great Revolution, the great majority… of our people had been so long accustomed to the practice and convenience of having slaves that very few among them even doubted the propriety and rectitude of it.”

John Jay

7 John Jay Quotes on Religion and Education (GOVERNMENT)

“The government must be a weak one indeed, if it should forget that the good of the whole can only be promoted by advancing the good of each of the parts or members which compose the whole.”

John Jay
When once an efficient national government is established, the best men in the country will not only consent to serve, but also will generally be appointed to manage it…Pin
When once an efficient national government is established, the best men in the country will not only consent to serve, but also will generally be appointed to manage it…

“Nothing is more certain than the indispensable necessity of government, and it is equally undeniable, that whenever and however it is instituted, the people must cede to it some of their natural rights, in order to vest it with requisite powers.”

John Jay
Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian Nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.Pin
Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian Nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.

“I consider knowledge to be the soul of a republic, and as the weak and wicked are generally in alliance, as much care should be taken to diminish the number of the former as of that latter. Education is the way to do this, and nothing should be left undone to afford all ranks of people that means of obtaining a proper degree of it at a cheap and easy rate.”

John Jay
The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next. Pin
The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next.

“Too many in your state [Pennsylvania], as in this [New York], love pure democracy dearly. They seem not to consider that pure democracy, like pure rum, easily produces intoxication, and with it a thousand mad pranks and fooleries.”

John Jay
YouTube video

John Jay Short Biography

Born on 12 December 1745 in New York, New York, United States, John Jay was a Founding Father of the United States of America and successfully negotiated the Jay Treaty.

He graduated from King’s College, now known as Columbia University, in 1764. Four years later, he passed the bar exam and became a successful lawyer in New York City.

In 1774, Jay was a delegate at the First Continental Congress. He also drafted The Address to the People of Great Britain.

In 1777, Jay was elected as the first chief of Justice of New York City. A year later, he was elected president of the Continental Congress.

Under the alias, Publius, along with Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, Jay wrote several essays to The Federalist, these became known as The Federalist Papers.

Jay was sent to Great Britain in 1794 by then-president George Washington, to negotiate the prevention of war, this was known as the Jay Treaty.

Further Reading:

Here are the best John Jay quotes so you can learn to take responsibility for your actions to cultivate your leadership skills.

(MUST READ)

Also read:

John Jay Quotes About Life (EDUCATION) - Gracious QuotesPin
45