Famous Quotes by Thomas Jefferson
Below are famous quotes by Thomas Jefferson - 3rd president of US (1743 - 1826).
Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies.
Be polite to all, but intimate with few.
Delay is preferable to error.
Democracy is 51% of the people taking away the rights of the other 49%.
Determine never to be idle...It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing.
Do not bite at the bait of pleasure till you know there is no hook beneath it.
Enlighten the people, generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like spirits at the dawn of day.
Error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it.
Every citizen should be a soldier. This was the case with the Greeks and Romans, and must be that of every free state.
Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom.
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.
I cannot live without books.
I do not take a single newspaper, nor read one a month, and I feel myself infinitely the happier for it.
I have seen enough of one war never to wish to see another.
I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.
I live for books.
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.
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.
In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.
Is it the Fourth?
It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.
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.
Never fear the want of business. A man who qualifies himself well for his calling, never fails of employment.
Never spend your money before you have it.
Never trouble another for what you can do for yourself.
No nation was ever drunk when wine was cheap.
Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances.
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.
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.
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.
Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.
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.
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.
That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.
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 happiest moments of my life have a been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family.
The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.
The Price Of Freedom Is Eternal Vigilance.
The sovereign invigorator of the body is exercise, and of all the exercises walking is the best.
The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive.
The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it always to be kept alive.
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
The tree of Liberty needs to be watered from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government, and to protect its free expression should be our first object.
There is nothing more unequal, than the equal treatment of unequal people.
Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far.
We confide in our strength, without boasting of it; we respect that of others, without fearing it.
We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.
We never regret having eaten too little.
When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public property
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