Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations. 1989.
| NUMBER: | 969 |
| AUTHOR: | James Madison (1751–1836) |
| QUOTATION: | A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives. |
| ATTRIBUTION: | These words, using the older spelling “Governours,” are inscribed to the left of the main entrance, Library of Congress James Madison Memorial Building. |
| SUBJECTS: | Knowledge |