Abigail Adams
Abigail Adams
Abigail Adamswas the wife of John Adams and the mother of John Quincy Adams. She is now designated the first Second Lady and second First Lady of the United States, although these titles were not in use at the time...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPolitical Wife
Date of Birth11 November 1744
CityWeymouth, MA
CountryUnited States of America
family blessed roof
I hope some future day will bring me the happiness of seeing my family again collected under our own roof, happy in ourselves and blessed in each other.
family country sweet
You cannot know, should I discribe to you; the feelings of a parent . . . . Four years have already past away since you left your native land, and this rural Cottage-Humble indeed, when compared to the Palaces you have visited, and the pomp you have been witness to. But I dare say you have not been so inattentive an observer, as to suppose that Sweet peace, and contentment, cannot inhabit the lowly roof, and bless the tranquil inhabitants, equally guarded and protected, in person and property, in this happy Country, as those who reside in the most elegant and costly dwellings.
family country children
Heaven grant me that I may thus rejoice in my children, thus see them ornaments to their Country, and blessings to their parents.
family wise children
What is it that affectionate parents require of their Children; for all their care, anxiety, and toil on their accounts? Only that they would be wise and virtuous, Benevolent and kind.
adversity call calm characters contending formed genius great habits mind pacific repose vigorous wish
These are times in which a genius would wish to live. It is not in the still calm of life, or the repose of a pacific station, that great characters are formed. The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties. Great necessities call out great virtues.
attained attended learning sought
Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.
afraid daughters eve fine knowledge mother since
Well, knowledge is a fine thing, and mother Eve thought so; but she smarted so severely for hers, that most of her daughters have been afraid of it since
sex class intellectual
The only chance for much intellectual improvement in the female sex, was to be found in the families of the educated class and in occasional intercourse with the learned.
men grasping dangerous
I am more and more convinced that man is a dangerous creature ...
eye heart devil
O, I have read his Heart in his wicked eyes many a time. The very devil is in them.
ambition pride sacrifice
How difficult the task to quench the fire and the pride of private ambition, and to sacrifice ourselves and all our hopes and expectations to the public weal! How few have souls capable of so noble an undertaking!
integrity honor littles
Great learning and superior abilities...will be of little value and small estimation unless virtue, honor, truth, and integrity are added to them.
genius want
These are the times when a genius wants to live.
challenges mind habit
The habits of a vigorous mind are born in contending with difficulties.