Quote #37393
Deliver me from your cold phlegmatic preachers, politicians, friends, lovers and husbands.
Abigail Adams
About This Quote
This quote needs no introduction—at least for now. We're working on adding more context soon.
Interpretation
The line reads as a sharp, witty rejection of emotional frigidity and performative restraint in public and private life. By grouping “preachers” and “politicians” with “friends, lovers and husbands,” the speaker collapses the divide between civic virtue and intimate feeling, suggesting that the same cold, self-controlled temperament can deaden both moral discourse and personal relationships. The plea “Deliver me” borrows the cadence of prayer, turning religious language against those who embody a chilly, unresponsive piety or decorum. In a broader sense, it voices a preference for warmth, sincerity, and passionate engagement over detached rationalism or stoic propriety.




