My affections were first for my own country, then, generally, for all mankind Thomas Jefferson More Quotes by Thomas Jefferson More Quotes From Thomas Jefferson Democracy is 51% of the people taking away the rights of the other 49%. Thomas Jefferson democracyrightspeople It takes time to persuade men to do even what is for their own good. Thomas Jefferson mind-your-own-businesslibertymen I am sure that in estimating every man's value either in private or public life, a pure integrity is the quality we take first into calculation, and that learning and talents are only the second. Thomas Jefferson qualityintegritymen Those who labor in the earth are the chosen people of God. Thomas Jefferson gardenearthpeople The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government. Thomas Jefferson politicalgovernmenthappiness One never really knows how much one has been touched by a place until one has left it. Thomas Jefferson humourhistoricalhistory Never spend your money before you have earned it. Thomas Jefferson debt-freeowing-a-debtmoney I apprehend... that the total abandonment of the principle of rotation in the offices of President and Senator will end in abuse. Thomas Jefferson abusepoliticaloffice Had the doctrines of Jesus been preached always as pure as they came from his lips, the whole civilized world would now have been Christians. Thomas Jefferson christianfaithjesus You know well that government always kept a kind of standing army of newswriters who, without any regard to truth or to what should be like truth, invented and put into the papers whatever might serve the [government] ministers. This suffices with the mass of the people who have no means of distinguishing the false from the true paragraphs of a newspaper. Thomas Jefferson armygovernmentmean It is the old practice of despots to use a part of the people to keep the rest in order. Thomas Jefferson freedompracticeorder A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be your constant companion of your walks. Thomas Jefferson being-strongnaturecharacter On every question of construction (of the Constitution) let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit of the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed. Thomas Jefferson patriotismmaytrying 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. Thomas Jefferson wisdomwisemen Man, once surrendering his reason, has no remaining guard against absurdities the most monstrous. . . . Thomas Jefferson reasonmenreligion It behooves every man who values liberty of conscience for himself, to resist invasions of it in the case of others: or their case may, by change of circumstances, become his own. Thomas Jefferson libertyfreedommen The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time. Thomas Jefferson godlytimelife My opinion is that there would never have been an infidel, if there had never been a priest. The artificial structures they have built on the purest of all moral systems, for the purpose of deriving from it pence and power, revolts those who think for themselves, and who read in that system only what is really there. Thomas Jefferson atheismreligionthinking Taste cannot be controlled by law. We must resist at all costs any attempt to regulate our individual freedoms and to legislate our personal moralities. Thomas Jefferson costtastelaw For a people who are free, and who mean to remain so, a well-organized and armed militia is their best security. Thomas Jefferson gunmilitarymean
