Thomas Jefferson

Is it the Fourth?

If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.

Say nothing of my religion. It is known to God and myself alone. Its evidence before the world is to be sought in my life: if it has been honest and dutiful to society the religion which has regulated it cannot be a bad one.

Do not bite at the bait of pleasure till you know there is no hook beneath it.

Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far.

That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.

There is nothing more unequal, than the equal treatment of unequal people.

Democracy is 51% of the people taking away the rights of the other 49%.

Enlighten the people, generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like spirits at the dawn of day.
Thomas Jefferson - to Archibald Stuart, 1791
I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.

The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it always to be kept alive.
Thomas Jefferson - 1801
My only fear is that I may live too long. This would be a subject of dread to me.

I cannot live without books.

The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.

The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.

Our friendships are precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life;and thanks to a benevolent arrangement of things, the greater part is sunshine.
Thomas Jefferson - Letter to Nathaniel Macon, January 12, 1819
Advertisements... contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper.

Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear.

I do not take a single newspaper, nor read one a month, and I feel myself infinitely the happier for it.

Determine never to be idle...It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing.

Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances.

Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies.

The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive.
Thomas Jefferson - Notes on the State of Virginia, 1781-82
The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.
Thomas Jefferson - First Inaugural Address
Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the governing of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.

The tree of Liberty needs to be watered from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.

Error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it.

Never fear the want of business. A man who qualifies himself well for his calling, never fails of employment.

I live for books.

The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government, and to protect its free expression should be our first object.

Do not bite at the bait of pleasure till you know there is no hook beneath it.

The happiest moments of my life have a been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family.

I believe that justice is instinct and innate, the moral sense is as much a part of our constitution as the threat of feeling, seeing and hearing.

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

I cannot live without books.

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

Question with boldness even the existance of a god; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear.
Thomas Jefferson - Writings
When angry, count ten before you speak; if very angry, a hundred.

We confide in our strength, without boasting of it; we respect that of others, without fearing it.

Every citizen should be a soldier. This was the case with the Greeks and Romans, and must be that of every free state.

The sovereign invigorator of the body is exercise, and of all the exercises walking is the best.

Be polite to all, but intimate with few.

My views and feelings (are) in favor of the abolition of war--and I hope it is practicable, by improving the mind and morals of society, to lessen the disposition to war; but of its abolition I despair.
Thomas Jefferson - (Notes on Virginia, 1782)
Ignorance is preferable to error, and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing than he who believes what is wrong.
Thomas Jefferson - letter to Elbridge Gerry, 1799
I am for freedom of religion, & against all maneuvres to bring about a legal ascendancy of one sect over another.
Thomas Jefferson - Resolutions, 1803
Some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem them like the ark of the covenant, too sacred to be touched.
Thomas Jefferson - letter to George Washington, September 9, 1792
No government ought to be without censors & where the press is free, no one ever will.

No nation was ever drunk when wine was cheap.

We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
Thomas Jefferson - letter to John Melish, January 13, 1813
An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens.

The Price Of Freedom Is Eternal Vigilance.

I have seen enough of one war never to wish to see another.
Thomas Jefferson - Notes on the State of Virginia - denouncing the evils of slavery
Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep forever.

Never trouble another for what you can do for yourself.
Thomas Jefferson - letter to Samuel Kercheval, July 12, 1816
We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.
Thomas Jefferson - letter to Count Diodati, 1807
I have the consolation of having added nothing to my private fortune during my public service, and of retiring with hands clean as they are empty.

In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.
Thomas Jefferson - letter to his cousin John Garland Jefferson, June 11, 1790
Health is worth more than learning.

When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public property

Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.

The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive.

Never spend your money before you have it.

We never regret having eaten too little.

I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.

Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom.
Thomas Jefferson - Letter to James Madison, 1787
A little rebellion now and then...is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government.

I cannot live without books.

Delay is preferable to error.
Thomas Jefferson - Notes on Virginia
It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.

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.
Thomas Jefferson - letter to James Lewis, Jr., May 9, 1798
If our house be on fire, without inquiring whether it was fired from within or without, we must try to extinguish it.
Thomas Jefferson - Notes on the State of Virginia
Reason and free inquiry are the only effectual agents against error.

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies.

- Thomas Jefferson