I think that our form of government is certainly the best–not that can be imagined–but that has ever been experienced; and, while we are sure that practice is in its favour, it would be most absurd to dream of destroying it on theory.

Charlotte Turner Smith
About This Quote

Alexander Hamilton was a Federalist, a supporter of the new Constitution which was being drafted at the time. This Constitution would give the U.S. government much power over its citizens, including the right to draft citizens into the military and the power to tax them without representation in Congress. Hamilton did not live long enough to see this new Constitution come into being, but he did have time to pen "The Federalist Papers," a series of essays that defended it.

In one of these essays Hamilton wrote, "I think that our form of government is certainly the best--not that can be imagined--but that has ever been experienced; and while we are sure that practice is in its favour, it would be most absurd to dream of destroying it on theory." It's true that any form of government could be improved upon. But what Hamilton is saying is that there are no perfect forms of government anyway–including our own–and therefore there should be no talk of destroying our Constitution for theoretical reasons.

Source: Desmond

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