Quotessence
Home / Books / The writings of Thomas Jefferson

The writings of Thomas Jefferson

Book by Thomas Jefferson · 39 quotes · Government, Men, Ifs

Filter quotes by topic

AllGovernmentMenIfsLawPoliticsPrinciplesRightsStatesCitizensConstitutionGivingHonestNaturalReligiousCountryDutyEqualFirstsHas BeensLiberty

The writings of Thomas Jefferson Quotes

“[If a book were] very innocent, and one which might be confided to the reason of any man; not likely to be much read if let alone, but if persecuted, it will be generally read. Every man in the United States will think it a duty to buy a copy, in vindication of his right to buy and to read what he pleases.”

IfsThinkingMenBookStatesReasonMightUnitedUnited StatesDutyPleaseEvery ManInnocentCivil RightsCopiesPersecutedVindication
Book:The writings of Thomas Jefferson
Create image

“The Gothic idea that we were to look backwards instead of forwards for the improvement of the human mind, and to recur to the annals of our ancestors for what is most perfect in government, in religion and in learning, is worthy of those bigots in religion and government by whom it has been recommended, and whose purposes it would answer. But it is not an idea which this country will endure.”

MindHumansLooksHas BeensIdeasCountryGovernmentPurposePoliticsAnswersPerfectEndureWorthyImprovementHuman MindAncestorBackwardsGothicBigotsReligion And Government
Book:The writings of Thomas Jefferson
Create image

“Men by their constitutions are naturally divided into two parties: 1. Those who fear and distrust the people, and wish to draw all powers from them into the hands of the higher classes. 2. Those who identify themselves with the people, have confidence in them, cherish and consider them as the most honest and safe, although not the most wise depositary of the public interests. In every country these two parties exist, and in every one where they are free to think, speak, and write, they will declare themselves.”

PeopleThinkingMenWritingTwoCountryHandsPoliticsSpeakWishInterestPartyClassWiseHonestHigherSafeDrawsConstitutionCherishDividedDistrustHave ConfidencePublic InterestMost Wise
Book:The writings of Thomas Jefferson
Create image

“Born in the same land, we ought to live as brothers, doing to each other all the good we can, and not listening to wicked men, who may endeavor to make us enemies. By living in peace, we can help and prosper one another; by waging war, we can kill and destroy many on both sides; but those who survive will not be the happier for that.”

MenMayWarHelpingPeaceSidesPresidentBornEnemyLandBrotherListeningOughtPoliticianKillingProsperityWickedEndeavorDestroyingAnti WarBoth SidesMean PeopleFounding Fathers DemocracyKilling Each OtherWicked ManWaging WarProspering
Book:The writings of Thomas Jefferson
Create image

“Are we to have a censor whose imprimatur shall say what books may be sold, and what we may buy? And who is thus to dogmatize religious opinions for our citizens? Whose foot is to be the measure to which ours are all to be cut or stretched? Is a priest to be our inquisitor, or shall a layman, simple as ourselves, set up his reason as the rule of what we are to read, and what we must believe?”

BelieveMayBookReasonReligiousSimpleOpinionCuttingFeetCitizensPriestsCensorshipReligious FreedomLayman
Book:The writings of Thomas Jefferson
Create image

“During the course of administration, and in order to disturb it, the artillery of the press has been levelled against us, charged with whatsoever its licentiousness could devise or dare. These abuses of an institution so important to freedom and science are deeply to be regretted, inasmuch as they tend to lessen its usefulness and to sap its safety.”

Has BeensImportantOrderCoursesAbuseSafetyInstitutionsPressesDareAdministrationUsefulnessSapArtillery
Book:The writings of Thomas Jefferson
Create image

“The principles on which we engaged, of which the charter of our independence is the record, were sanctioned by the laws of our being, and we but obeyed them in pursuing undeviatingly the course they called for. It issued finally in that inestimable state of freedom which alone can ensure to man the enjoyment of his equal rights.”

MenStatesLawCoursesPrinciplesRecordsRightsEqualIndependenceEngagedEnjoymentEqual RightsCharterNatural RightsInalienable Rights
Book:The writings of Thomas Jefferson
Create image

“The people, especially when moderately instructed, are the only safe, because the only honest, depositaries of the public rights, and should therefore be introduced into the administration of them in every function to which they are sufficient; they will err sometimes and accidentally, but never designedly, and with a systematic and persevering purpose of overthrowing the free principles of the government.”

PeopleShouldSometimesGovernmentPurposePrinciplesRightsHonestSafeFunctionAdministrationSufficientSystematicConsent Of The Governed
Book:The writings of Thomas Jefferson
Create image

“All the capital employed in paper speculation is barren and useless, producing, like that on a gaming table, no accession to itself, and is withdrawn from commerce and agriculture where it would have produced addition to the common mass It nourishes in our citizens habits of vice and idleness instead of industry and morality It has furnished effectual means of corrupting such a portion of the legislature as turns the balance between the honest voters whichever way it is directed.”

WayMeanTurnsCommonHonestIndustryHabitBalanceCitizensMoralityPaperMassTablesVicesUselessVotersPortionsCommerceAgricultureEmployedSpeculationIdlenessLegislatureBarrenGaming
Book:The writings of Thomas Jefferson
Create image

“No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever.”

MenReligionFatherReligiousSupportWorshipMinistryFoundingCompelledChurch And StateSeparation Of Church And StateOur Founding FathersReligious FreedomFounding Fathers ChristianUs Founding FathersFounding Fathers ReligionSeparation Between Church And StateFounding Fathers ReligiousFreedom Of ReligionFounding Fathers Anti ReligionFounding Fathers Of AmericaFounding AmericaAmerican Founding FathersChristianity From Founding FathersDeistChristian Freedom
Book:The writings of Thomas Jefferson
Create image

“The error seems not sufficiently eradicated, that the operations of the mind, as well as the acts of the body, are subject to the coercion of the laws. But our rulers can have authority over such natural rights only as we have submitted to them. The rights of conscience we never submitted, we could not submit. We are answerable for them to our God. The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others.”

MindWellsBodySeemsGovernmentLawNaturalLibertyRightsSubjectsAuthorityConscienceErrorsOperationsRulersSubmitCoercionNatural RightsLegitimate GovernmentLegitimate Power
Book:The writings of Thomas Jefferson
Create image

“The suppression of unnecessary offices, of useless establishments and expenses enabled us to discontinue our internal taxes. These covering our land with officers, and opening our doors to their intrusions, had already begun that process of domiciliary vexation which, once entered, is scarcely to be restrained from reaching successively every article of produce and property.”

PoliticsProcessDoorsLandProduceTaxesOfficePropertyOpeningUselessReachingInternalsExpensesOfficersArticlesEstablishmentUnnecessaryCoveringSuppressionIntrusionVexation
Book:The writings of Thomas Jefferson
Create image

“If, in my retirement to the humble station of a private citizen, I am accompanied with the esteem and approbation of my fellow citizens, trophies obtained by the bloodstained steel, or the tattered flags of the tented field, will never be envied. The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government.”

IfsFirstsHumansGovernmentCareFieldsObjectsCitizensDestructionFellowsHumbleEsteemHuman LifeStationsRetirementFlagsSteelTrophiesEnviedLife And Happiness
Book:The writings of Thomas Jefferson
Create image