Quotessence
Home / Authors / Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson Quotes

3rd U.S. President

Filter quotes by topic

AllGovernmentMenLibertyPeopleIfsPoliticsShouldMayLawStatesCountryMindRightsConstitutionPoliticalNationsPrinciplesReligionReligiousWar

Famous Thomas Jefferson Quotes

“I leave to others the sublime delights of riding in the storm, better pleased with sound sleep & a warmer berth below it encircled, with the society of neighbors, friends & fellow laborers of the earth rather than with spies & sycophants ... I have no ambition to govern men. It is a painful and thankless office.”

MenEarthPoliticalPoliticsSoundTermSleepOfficeAmbitionFellowsPainfulDelightStormNeighborRidingSublimeSpyLaborersTerm LimitsThanklessSycophantsNeighbors FriendsSound Sleep
Book:A Jefferson profile as revealed in his letters
Create image

“To seek out the best [persons to serve in the government] though the whole Union, we must resort to the information which from the best of men, acting disinterestedly and with ther purest motives, is something incorrect....No duty the Executive had to perform was so trying as to put the right man in the right place.”

MenTryingPersonsWholeGovernmentActingInformationDutyUnionsMotiveExecutivesResortsRight PlaceBest PersonBest Of MeRight Man
Author:Thomas Jefferson
Create image

“A man has a right to use a saw, an axe, a plane, separately; may he not combine their uses on the same piece of wood? He has a right to use his knife to cut his meat, a fork to hold it; may a patentee take from him the right to combine their use on the same subject? Such a law, instead of enlarging our conveniences, as was intended, would most fearfully abridge them, and crowd us by monopolies out of the use of the things we have.”

MenMayUseLawSawsPiecesCuttingSubjectsCrowdsWoodsPlanesMeatKnivesMonopolyConvenienceForks
Book:The writings of Thomas Jefferson: being his autobiography, correspondence, reports, messages, addresses, and other writings, official and private : published by the order of the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library, from the original manuscripts, deposited in the Department of State
Create image

“Not less than two hours a day should be devoded to exercise, and weather should be little regarded. A person not sick will not be injured by getting wet. It is but taking a cold bath, which never gives a cold to any one. Brute animals are the most healthy, and they are exposed to all weather, and of men, those are healthiest who are the most exposed.”

MenGivingShouldLittlesPersonsTwoHoursAnimalColdExerciseHealthySickWeatherExposedWetBathsInjuredBrutes
Book:Jefferson: Writings
Create image

“The religion of Jesus is founded in the Unity of God, and this principle chiefly gave it triumph over the rabble of heathen gods then acknowledged. Thinking men of all nations rallied readily to the doctrine of one only God, and embraced it with the pure-morals which Jesus inculcated.”

ThinkingMenJesusNationsMoralPrinciplesPureUnityDoctrineTriumphHeathenThinking Man
Book:The Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Correspondence, contin. Reports and opinions while Secretary of State
Create image

“Some men look at Constitutions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem them, like the ark of the covenant, too sacred to be touched. They ascribe to the men of the preceding age a wisdom more than human, and suppose what they did to be beyond amendment. I knew that age well; I belonged to and labored with it. It deserved well of its country. It was very like the present, but without the experience of the present; and forty years of experience in Government is worth a century of book-reading; and this they would say themselves, were they to rise from the dead.”

MenYearsHumansWellsLooksBookCountryGovernmentAgeReadingCenturyHe ManConstitutionSacredTouchedFortyReverenceAmendmentsBook ReadingCovenantArkYears Of ExperienceSanctimonious
Author:Thomas Jefferson
Create image

“A generation may bind itself as long as its majority continues in life; when that has disappeared, another majority is in place, holds all the rights and powers their predecessors once held, and may change their laws and institutions to suit themselves. Nothing then is unchangeable but the inherent and inalienable rights of man.”

MenMayLongLawRightsGenerationsInstitutionsMajoritySuitsInherentPredecessorsUnchangeableInalienable Rights
Book:The portable Thomas Jefferson
Create image

“The influence over government must be shared among all the people. If every individual which composes their mass participates of the ultimate authority, the government will be safe, because the corrupting of the whole mass will exceed any private resources of wealth, and public ones cannot be provided but by levies on the people. In this case every man would have to pay his own price.”

PeopleIfsMenWholeGovernmentIndividualWealthPayCasesInfluenceSafeAuthorityMassResourcesUltimateEvery ManExceed
Book:Jefferson: Political Writings
Create image

“For an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.”

MenMayLibertyGreaterArmsGunLibertarianAmendmentsGun ControlFoundingLaws Of NatureFreedom And LibertySelf DefenseSecond AmendmentFreedom LibertyOur Founding FathersLimited GovernmentFirearmsUs Founding FathersRight To Bear ArmsMilitiaBearing ArmsGun RightsLimiting GovernmentRights And FreedomsHomicidePro GunFounding Fathers GunUnarmed2 AmendmentFounding Fathers Second AmendmentGreat LibertarianDisarmingLimiting FreedomAnti GunAmendment 1Gun LawStrong ArmsAmendment 19Amendment 4Pro Gun ControlPatriotic GunAmendment 13Guns In AmericaVoting Founding FathersCarrying Guns
Author:Thomas Jefferson
Create image

“Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far. The Europeans value themselves on having subdued the horse to the uses of man; but I doubt whether we have not lost more than we have gained, by the use of this animal.”

MenUseValuesLostWalksAnimalDoubtWalkingExerciseHorse
Book:Memoir, correspondence and miscellanies from the papers of Thomas Jefferson
Create image

“The precepts of philosophy and of the Hebrew code, laid hold of actions only. (Jesus) pushed his scrutinies into the heart of man, erected his tribunal in the regions of his thoughts, and purified the waters at the fountain head.”

MenHeartPhilosophyActionJesusWaterCodeRegionsFountainHebrewScrutinyTribunalsFountain Head
Book:Memoirs, correspondence and private papers of Thomas Jefferson, ed. by T.J. Randolph
Create image

“A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.”

MenWisdomGovernmentPoliticsLibertyWiseIndustryCitizensMouthsCapitalismEconomicsLaborLibertarianImprovementCirclesPursuitSocialismBreadFoundingGoverningFreedom And LibertyFreedom LibertyPrivate PropertyOur Founding FathersProperty RightsLimited GovernmentDemocracies HaveBill Of RightsUs Founding FathersForefathersFelicityAmerican GovernmentFree GovernmentLimiting GovernmentLibertarian PartyEconomic FreedomInauguralFrugalLimited FreedomInaugural AddressGovernment RegulationFounding Fathers DemocracyRestrainingLimiting FreedomDistribution Of WealthConstitutional GovernmentDemocratic GovernmentGovernment And SocietyFree Market CapitalismTyranny Founding FathersRedistribution Of WealthDemocracy In AmericaCommunism And SocialismGovernment And PoliticsNot VotingGovernment PoliticsFuture Of AmericaVoting Founding FathersRobber Baron
Book:Jefferson on Freedom: Wisdom, Advice, and Hints on Freedom, Democracy, and the American Way
Create image

“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.”

MenInspirationalHelpingEarthSuccessGoalLeadershipAttitudeCompassionAchievePositivePositive ThinkingConfidencePoliticianAmbitionInspirational AttitudeSelf ConfidencePositive AttitudeSwimmingBad AssSetting GoalsGreat SuccessMy AttitudeMental AttitudeAptitudeDetermination And SuccessPositive Thinking And AttitudeSelf Esteem And ConfidenceAchieving SuccessWinning AttitudeBest AttitudeKeep A Positive AttitudePositive Thinking AttitudeBad AttitudeAchieved SuccessNegative AttitudeGreat AttitudeAchieving GoalsLife AttitudeMotivational WorkoutConfidence BoostingPositive Mental AttitudeFounding Fathers DemocracyAttitude And LifeGreat Positive AttitudeBoost Your ConfidencePositive Thinking SuccessMotivational GoalChange Your AttitudeAttitudes And SuccessMotivation Goal SettingGoals And MotivationInspirational Positive AttitudePositive Attitude And SuccessAttitude Towards LifeGoals And AmbitionsSelf Confidence MotivationalChanging AttitudeMotivational AttitudeCool AttitudeContagious AttitudesWork AttitudeWrong AttitudeNothing Can Stop Me
Author:Thomas Jefferson
Create image

“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.”

MenLifeSelfTruthHappinessCertainChangeFreedomLibertyRightsPoliticianEqualConstitutionIndependenceCreatorEqualityPursuitFourthAmerican DreamEvidentDeclaration4th Of JulyPursuit Of HappinessJulyFreedom LibertyReligious FreedomDeclaration Of IndependenceIndividual RightsFreedom Of ReligionRights And FreedomsRight To LifeAmerican PatrioticNatural RightsDeismInalienable RightsUs ConstitutionFounding Fathers DemocracyLiberty And JusticeAmerica FreedomJuly 4th 1776Price Of FreedomUsa PatrioticEquality For AllIndependence And FreedomAmerican FreedomHappy Independence Day Usa4th Of July InspirationalUnalienable RightsDeistLiberty And EqualityEquality Of ManFourth Of July InspirationalLife Liberty And The Pursuit Of Happiness4th Of July WishesConsent Of The GovernedUs Independence DayHappy 4th Of JulyHuman EqualityCreator God4th Of July MilitaryBest Things In Life Are FreePursuit Of JusticePopular SovereigntyRights In AmericaRights To LifeDomestic Tranquility
Author:Thomas Jefferson
Create image

“I have no fear that the result of our experiment will be that men may be trusted to govern themselves without a master.”

MenMayResultsLibertyMastersExperimentsTrustedNo FearAmerican RevolutionHave No FearSelf-government
Book:The writings of Thomas Jefferson: being his autobiography, correspondence, reports, messages, addresses, and other writings, official and private
Create image

“Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them.”

MenShouldMeanMomentsGovernmentReadingLeftPaperCapableShould HavePressesEvery ManNewspapersJournalismLatterFree SpeechFreedom Of SpeechPapersFreedom Of The PressFree PressNewspapers Journalism
Author:Thomas Jefferson
Create image