Quotes
Quotes - Jefferson
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.
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.
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.
I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.
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. . . .
