Quotes
Authors -- Jefferson
Only aim to do your duty, and mankind will give you credit where you fail.
The earth is given as a common for men to labor and live in.
It is the trade of lawyers to question everything, yield nothing, and to talk by the hour.
The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time. -- Summary View of the Rights of British America
The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.
I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it.
It behoves every man who values liberty of conscience for himself, to resist invasions of it in the case of others: or their case may, by change of circumstances, become his own.
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it's natural manure.
The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time.
The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time. -- Summary View of the Rights of British America.
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. -- Declaration of Independence.
We hold these truths to be self-evident,--that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. -- Declaration of Independence.
We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honour. -- Declaration of Independence.
Error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it. -- First Inaugural Address. March 4, 1801.
Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations,--entangling alliances with none; the support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns, and the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies; the preservation of the general government in its whole constitutional vigour, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad;...freedom of religion; freedom of the press; freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus; and trial by juries impartially selected,--these principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us, and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. -- First Inaugural Address. March 4, 1801.
In the full tide of successful experiment. -- First Inaugural Address. March 4, 1801.
Of the various executive abilities, no one excited more anxious concern than that of placing the interests of our fellow-citizens in the hands of honest men, with understanding sufficient for their stations. No duty is at the same time more difficult to fulfil. The knowledge of character possessed by a single individual is of necessity limited. To seek out the best through the whole Union, we must resort to the information which from the best of men, acting disinterestedly and with the purest motives, is sometimes incorrect. -- Letter to Elias Shipman and others of New Haven, July 12, 1801.
If a due participation of office is a matter of right, how are vacancies to be obtained? Those by death are few; by resignation, none. -- Letter to Elias Shipman and others of New Haven, July 12, 1801.
When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public property. -- Life of Jefferson (Rayner), p. 356.
Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just. -- Notes on Virginia. Query xviii. Manners.
The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.
The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.
The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.
I have lost everything, and I am so poor now that I really cannot afford to let anything worry me.
Question with boldness even the existence of God; because, if there is one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded faith.
My only fear is that I may live too long. This would be a subject of dread to me.
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness--That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive to these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such Principles and and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. . . . -- Declaration of Independence of the United States of America, beginning of
The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it, and the glow from that fire can truly light the world. -- Declaration of Independence of the United States of America, beginning of
The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive. It will often be exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all.
War is an instrument entirely inefficient toward redressing wrong; and multiplies, instead of indemnifying losses.
I am mortified to be told that, in the United States of America, the sale of a book can become a subject of inquiry, and of criminal inquiry too.
I find the pain of a little censure, even when it is unfounded, is more acute than the pleasure of much praise.
I find that the pain of a little censure, even when it is unfounded, is more acute than the pleasure of much praise.
And to preserve their independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude.
Never spend your money before you have it.
We hold these truths to be sacred & undeniable; that all men are created equal & independant, that from that equal creation they derive rights inherent & inalienable, among which are the preservation of life, & liberty, & the pursuit of happiness.
Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God. -- found among his papers after his death
I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.
Victory and defeat are each of the same price.
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.
Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains.
I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers ... We must make our choice between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude. If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the.
Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day.
Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.
I'm a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.
An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens.
I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.
When governments fear the people there is liberty. When the people fear the government there is tyranny.
The tax which will be paid for the purpose of education is not more than the thousandth part of what will be paid to kings, priests and nobles who will rise up among us if we leave the people in ignorance.
Never spend your money before you have it.
I think we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labour of the industrious.
That government is best which governs least, because its people discipline themselves.
It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.
It is more dangerous that even a guilty person should be punished without the forms of law than that he should escape.
Friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life.
But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life; and thanks to a benevolent arrangement of things, the greater part of life is sunshine.
One good act of vengeance deserves another.
The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.
Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.
In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.
The constitution, on this hypothesis, is a mere thing of wax in the hands of the Judiciary, which they may twist and shape into any form they please.
Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.
A coward is much more exposed to quarrels than a man of spirit.
Taste cannot be controlled by law.
I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.
It is neither wealth nor splendor; but tranquillity and occupation which give happiness.
Monuments of the safety with which errors of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it. -- in his first inaugural address
When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public property. -- Life of Jefferson (p. 356), said to Baron Humboldt, see Rayner's "Life of Jefferson", p. 356
It is my principle that the will of the majority should always prevail.
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness--That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive to these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such Principles and and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. . . . -- Declaration of Independence of the United States of America, beginning of
I believe that every human mind feels pleasure in doing good to another.
Error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to admit it.
A little rebellion now and then is a good thing.
A little rebellion now and then ... is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government.
The hole and the patch should be commensurate.
Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.
Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the boisterous sea of liberty.
Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations — entangling alliances with none.
Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy, and I wish we may be permitted to pursue it.
Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy, and I wish we may be permitted to pursue it.
Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy, and I wish we may be permitted to pursue it.
The man who fears no truths has nothing to fear from lies.
Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
One good act of vengeance deserves another.
Resort is had to ridicule only when reason is against us.
We hold these truths to be self-evident,--that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. -- Declaration of Independence of the United States of America
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
I consider trial by jury as the only anchor yet imagined by man by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution.
Peace. commerce, and honest friendship with all nations--entangling alliances with none. -- in his first inaugural address
No man will ever bring out of the Presidency the reputation which carries him into it.
