John Adams
The science of government it is my duty to study, more than all other
sciences; the arts of legislation and administration and negotiation ought
to take the place of, indeed exclude, in a manner, all other arts. I must
study politics and war, that our sons may have liberty to study mathematics
and philosophy. Our sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy,
geography, natural history and naval architecture, navigation,
commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study
painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry and porcelain.
Letter to Abigail Adams (12 May 1780)
John Adams, in a letter to his son John Quincy when the boy was a student
at the University of Leiden, stressed that he should carry a book with him
wherever he went. And that while a knowledge of Greek and Latin were
essential, he must never neglect the great works of literature in his own
language, and particularly those of the English poets. It was his happiness
that mattered, Adams told him. "You will never be alone with a poet in your
pocket."
The Revolution was another of the darkest, most uncertain of times and the
longest war in American history, until the Vietnam War. It lasted eight and
a half years, and Adams, because of his unstinting service to his country,
was separated from his family nearly all that time, much to his and their
distress. In a letter from France he tried to explain to them the reason
for such commitment.
I must study politics and war [he wrote] that my sons may have liberty to
study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and
philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation,
commerce, and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study
paintings, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain.
