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Quote by Thomas Jefferson

“It is so difficult to draw a clear line of separation between the abuse and the wholesome use of the press, that as yet we have found it better to trust the public judgment, rather than the magistrate, with the discrimination between truth and falsehood. And hitherto the public judgment has performed that office with wonderful correctness.”

Quote by Thomas Jefferson

Book:The Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Correspondence, contin
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The Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Correspondence, contin

The Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Correspondence, continuation is a compilation of Jefferson's extensive correspondence, offering insight into his role in the American Revolution, his presidency, and his contributions to the drafting of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. more

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Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States, a distinguished politician, philosopher, architect, and scientist. He was born on April 13, 1743, and died on July 4, 1826. Jefferson advocated for democracy and freedom in politics and was one of the main authors of the Declaration of Independence. His political ideas had a profound impact on the founding and development of the United States. more

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“That this liberty [of the press] is often carried to excess; that it has sometimes degenerated into licentiousness, is seen and lamented, but the remedy has not yet been discovered. Perhaps it is an evil inseparable from the good with which it is allied; perhaps it is a shoot which cannot be stripped from the stalk without wounding vitally the plant from which it is torn. However desirable those measures might be which might correct without enslaving the press, they have never yet been devised in America.”

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Book:The Writings of James Madison: 1790-1802
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“The true liberty of the press is amply secured by permitting every man to publish his opinion; but it is due to the peace and dignity of society, to inquire into the motives of such publications, and to distinguish between those which are meant for use and reformation, and with an eye solely to the public good, and those which are intended merely to delude and defame. To the latter description, it is impossible that any good government should afford protection and impunity.”

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Author:Thomas McKean
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“Wherever indeed a right of property is infringed for the general good, if the nature of the case admits of compensation, it ought to be made; but if compensation be impracticable, that impracticability ought to be an obstacle to a clearly essential reform.”

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Book:Correspondence [contin.] 1795-1804; 1777; 1791. Letters of H.G. 1789. Address to public creditors. 1790. Vindication of funding system. 1791
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“And it is no less true, that personal security and private property rest entirely upon the wisdom, the stability, and the integrity of the courts of justice.”

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Book:Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States: With a Preliminary Review of the Constitutional History of the Colonies and States, Before the Adoption of the Constitution
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