Quotessence
Home / Books / The writings of Thomas Jefferson

The writings of Thomas Jefferson

Book by Thomas Jefferson · 6 quotes · Government, Men, Ifs

Filter quotes by topic

The writings of Thomas Jefferson Quotes

“The proscribing any citizen as unworthy the public confidence by laying upon him an incapacity of being called to offices of trust and emolument unless he profess or renounce this or that religious opinion is depriving him injuriously of those privileges and advantages to which, in common with his fellow citizens, he has a natural right.”

“What has been the effect of [religious] coercion? To make one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error all over the earth.”

“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?”

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