I was bored, so I went to that random quotations page again

[capri0mni]

And I found this:

All men profess honesty as long as they can. To believe all men honest would be folly. To believe none so is something worse.

John Quincy Adams (1767 - 1848)

I love that second bit, especially.

Notably, JQA was the sixth president of America, And the first president didn't have to run for election. This quote is coming from one of the very first people on the planet who had to invent, and find his own way through, our modern political system.

So I find that realistic, but anti-cynical, sentiment especially heartening.

Comments

[antiwesley.livejournal.com]

JQA didn't actually have much to do with early politics... he was only 22 when the Constitution took effect. Washington's first period was a non-elected position, and he ran against someone for his re-election.

The first political parties basically stemmed from the Hamilton/Jefferson fights, where Jefferson favoured the French, whereas Hamilton the British during the first formative years of the government.

By the time Adams was elected, the country had had at least 40 years to establish and screw up the political system.