Alexander Hamilton Quotes

“[HAMILTON]
I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory”
― Lin-Manuel Miranda

“I know my sister like I know my own mind, you will never find anyone as trusting or as kind.”
― Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton: The Revolution

“Who talks most about freedom and equality? Is it not those who hold the bill of rights in one hand and a whip for affrighted slaves in the other?”
― Alexander Hamilton

“On opening night, standing under the Rogers's marquee, [Lin] realized that if Eliza's struggle was the element of Hamilton's story that had inspired him the most, then the show itself was a part of her legacy.”
― Jeremy McCarter, Hamilton: The Revolution

“There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty, that makes human nature rise above itself, in acts of bravery and heroism”
― Alexander Hamilton

“Serving [Hamilton's] legacy didn't just mean commemorating him, though: It also meant continuing his work. [Eliza] crusaded against slavery, as Hamilton had. And this widow of an orphan helped to found the first private orphanage in New York. That's the real power of a legacy: We tell stories of people who are gone because like any powerful stories, they have the potential to inspire, and to change the world.”
― Jeremy McCarter, Hamilton: The Revolution

“As too much power leads to despotism, too little leads to anarchy, and both eventually to the ruin of the people.”
― Ron Chernow, Alexander Hamilton

“Jefferson appeared to his enemies as an American version of Candide; Hamilton as an American Machiavelli.”
― Joseph J. Ellis, American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson

“What separates history from myth is that history takes in the whole picture, whereas myth averts our eyes from the truth when it turns men into heroes and gods.”
― Nancy Isenberg, Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr

“Had I realized while on Earth," he said, "that Hell was such a delightful place, I should have put more faith in the teachings of religion. As it was, I actually doubted its existence. A foolish error, cherie. I am pleased to say that you have converted me completely."

"I, too," observed Mr. Hamilton, helping himself to wine, "was something of an unbeliever in my time, and while never quite an atheist, like my arch-enemy Jefferson, I was still inclined to look upon Satan as merely a myth. Imagine my satisfaction to find him ruling a monarchy! You know I spent the greater part of my earthly existence fighting Mr. Jefferson and his absurd democratic ideas and now look at the damn country! Run by morons!”
― Frederic Arnold Kummer, Ladies in Hades: A Story of Hell's Smart Set & Gentlemen in Hades: The Story of a Damned Debutante

“And at last, the lonely young man who belonged to no one finally belonged to someone, forever, and the practical girl who would not settle for less then a love story for the ages found the life long romance she had yearned for all her life.”
― Melissa de la Cruz

“But if insecurity was the primal source of Hamilton's incredibly energy, one would have to conclude that providence had conspired to produce at the most opportune moment perhaps the most creative liability in American history.”
― Joseph J. Ellis, Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation

“Have you ever seen a germ?" Aunt Gertrude asked without waiting for Eliza's reply. "Neither have I, yet I have no doubt they exist, because I have seen their effects on the body. Likewise I have never 'seen' love, yet I have witnessed again and again its transformative effect on human beings.”
― Melissa de la Cruz, Alex and Eliza

“The ancient philosophers always had their doubts about democracy. Plato feared the "false and braggart words" of the demagogue, and suspected democracy might be nothing more than a staging point on the road to tyranny. Early American advocates of republican government also recognized the challenge that a corrupt leader could pose to democracy, and thought hard about creating the institutions that would resist one. The Constitutional Convention of 1787 created the electoral college as a means of ensuring that a man with what Alexander Hamilton called "talents for low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity" could never become president of the United States.”
― Anne Applebaum, Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism

“Laurens, Lafayette, and Hamilton--all roughly the same age-- had become inseparable when they discovered they shared the conviction that all men should be free, including blacks.”
― Elizabeth Cobbs, The Hamilton Affair

“[Alexander Hamilton and John Adams] wanted to build democracy in America on the basis of rational debate, reason, and compromise. But they had no illusions about human nature: They knew that men could sometimes succumb to "passions," to use their old-fashioned word. They knew that any political system built on logic and rationality was always at risk from an outburst of the irrational.”
― Anne Applebaum, Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism

“To achieve these Jeffersonian ends, Alexander Hamilton—Jefferson’s philosophical rival—devised an ingenious strategy that entailed a strong manufacturing base, a national banking system, a centralized federal government, and an export-led economic scheme protected by the U.S. Navy.”
― Patrick Mendis, Peaceful War: How the Chinese Dream and the American Destiny Create a New Pacific World Order

“Americans could achieve Jefferson’s democratic freedoms through Hamilton’s economic development strategies and trade policies.”
― Patrick Mendis, Peaceful War: How the Chinese Dream and the American Destiny Create a New Pacific World Order

“History abounds in and around New York City, however much of it is buried in the concrete of newer construction. The downtown financial district from Battery Park to Wall Street is such a historical district. Trinity Church at Wall Street and Broadway and the Churchyard surrounding it is where Alexander Hamilton and his wife Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton along with other notables are buried. The story of Alexander Hamilton is an important part of New York City’s history and has become a Broadway musical.
At the top of the Palisades in Weehawken is a small park known as the Dueling Grounds. This Revolutionary War site, overlooking New York City to the east, and what had been Half Moon Bay to the north and directly beneath it, is where Alexander Hamilton, a founding father of the United States, was mortally wounded by a single shot from Aaron Burr’s dueling pistol. He died the following day in Greenwich Village at the home of his friend William Bayard Jr.”
― Captain Hank Bracker, "Seawater One"

“[During World War I] General Pershing, commander in chief of our expeditionary forces, on arriving in France, officially visited Lafayette's grave, laid a wreath on it, and said, "Lafayette, we are here." By this, he meant that the Americans were eager to repay to France their debt of gratitude for what Lafayette had done for them during the Revolutionary War.”
― Hélène A. Guerber, The Story of the Americans