• “We are, heart and soul, friends to the freedom of the press. It is however, the prostituted companion of liberty, and somehow or other, we know not how, its efficient auxiliary.” ~Fisher Ames (1807)
  

• “We are, heart and soul, friends to the freedom of the press. It is however, the prostituted companion of liberty, and somehow or other, we know not how, its efficient auxiliary. It follows the substance like its shade; but while a man walks erect, he may observe that his shadow is almost always in the dirt. It corrupts, it deceives, it inflames. It strips virtue of her honors, and lends to faction its wildfire and its poisoned arms, and in the end is its own enemy and the usurper’s ally.” ~Fisher Ames (1807)
  

• “The known propensity of a democracy is to licentiousness which the ambitious call, and ignorant believe to be liberty.” ~Fisher Ames (1788)
  

• “The known propensity of a democracy is to licentiousness which the ambitious call, and ignorant believe to be liberty.” ~Fisher Ames (1788)
  

• “I am commonly opposed to those who modestly assume the rank of champions of liberty, and make a very patriotic noise about the people.” ~Fisher Ames (1789)
  

• “Our liberty depends on our education, our laws, and habits . . . It is founded on morals and religion, whose authority reigns in the heart, and on the influence all these produce on public opinion before that opinion governs rulers.” ~Fisher Ames
  

• “A democracy is a volcano which conceals the fiery materials of its own destruction.” ~Fisher Ames
  

• “We are, heart and soul, friends to the freedom of the press. It is however, the prostituted companion of liberty, and somehow or other, we know not how, its efficient auxiliary. It follows the substance like its shade; but while a man walks erect, he may observe that his shadow is almost always in the dirt.” ~Fisher Ames (1807)
  

• “We are, heart and soul, friends to the freedom of the press. It is however, the prostituted companion of liberty, and somehow or other, we know not how, its efficient auxiliary. It follows the substance like its shade; but while a man walks erect, he may observe that his shadow is almost always in the dirt. It corrupts, it deceives, it inflames. It strips virtue of her honors, and lends to faction its wildfire and its poisoned arms, and in the end is its own enemy and the usurper’s ally, It would be easy to enlarge on its evils.” ~Fisher Ames (1807)
  

• “We are not to consider ourselves, while here, as at church or school, to listen to the harangues of speculative piety; we are here to talk of the political interests committed to our charge.” ~Fisher Ames (1789)