My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy! Thomas Jefferson More Quotes by Thomas Jefferson More Quotes From Thomas Jefferson To lay taxes to provide for the general welfare of the United States, that is to say, 'to lay taxes for the purpose of providing for the general welfare.' For the laying of taxes is the power, and the general welfare the purpose for which the power is to be exercised. They are not to lay taxes ad libitum for any purpose they please; but only to pay the debts or provide for the welfare of the Union. Thomas Jefferson taxation united-states purpose A Nation's best defense is an educated citizenry Thomas Jefferson nations educated defense May I never get too busy in my own affairs that I fail to respond to the needs of others with kindness and compassion. Thomas Jefferson compassion helping-others kindness The abolition of domestic slavery is the great object of desire in those colonies, where it was unhappily introduced in their infant state. Thomas Jefferson slavery states desire The spirit of the times may alter, will alter. Our rulers will become corrupt, our people careless... From the conclusion of this war we shall be going downhill. It will not then be necessary to resort every moment to the people for support. They will be forgotten, therefore, and their rights disregarded. They will forget themselves, but in the sole faculty of making money, and will never think of uniting to affect a due respect for their rights. The shackles, therefore, will be made heavier and heavier, till our rights shall revive or expire in a convulsion. Thomas Jefferson rights war thinking You see I am an enthusiast on the subject of the arts. But it is an enthusiasm of which I am not ashamed, as its object is to improve the taste of my countrymen, to increase their reputation, to reconcile to them the respect of the world, and procure them its praise. Thomas Jefferson enthusiasm world art Should things go wrong at any time, the people will set them to rights by the peaceable exercise of their elective rights. Thomas Jefferson rights exercise people No nation is permitted to live in ignorance with impunity Thomas Jefferson nigeria-independence impunity ignorance Turning, then, from this loathsome combination of church and state, and weeping over the follies of our fellow men, who yield themselves the willing dupes and drudges of these mountebanks, I consider reformation and redress as desperate, and abandon them to the Quixotism of more enthusiastic minds. Thomas Jefferson yield mind men [An] act of the Congress of the United States... which assumes powers... not delegated by the Constitution, is not law, but is altogether void and of no force. Thomas Jefferson void united-states law The late rebellion in Massachusetts has given more alarm than I think it should have done. Calculate that one rebellion in thirteen states in the course of eleven years, is but one for each state in a century and a half. No country should be so long without one. Nor will any degree of power in the hands of government prevent insurrections. Thomas Jefferson wisdom country thinking In America, no other distinction between man and man had ever been known but that of persons in office exercising powers by authority of the laws, and private individuals. Among these last, the poorest laborer stood on equal ground with the wealthiest millionaire, and generally on a more favored one whenever their rights seem to jar. Thomas Jefferson rights exercise men The ultimate arbiter is the people of the Union. Thomas Jefferson unions arbiter people The construction applied . . . to those parts of the Constitution of the United States which delegate Congress a power . . . ought not to be construed as themselves to give unlimited powers, nor a part to be so taken as to destroy the whole residue of that instrument. Thomas Jefferson united-states taken giving A judiciary independent of a king or executive alone, is a good thing; but independence of the will of the nation is a solecism, at least in a republican government. Thomas Jefferson independent government kings The great object of my fear is the federal judiciary. That body, like gravity, ever acting, with noiseless foot, and unalarming advance, gaining ground step by step, and holding what it gains, is ingulfing insidiously the special governments into the jaws of that which feeds them. Thomas Jefferson government special feet Legislators invent too many devices for subdividing property, only taking care to let their subdivisions go hand in hand with the natural affections of the human mind. Thomas Jefferson government mind hands During the course of administration, and in order to disturb it, the artillery of the press has been levelled against us, charged with whatsoever its licentiousness could devise or dare. These abuses of an institution so important to freedom and science are deeply to be regretted, inasmuch as they tend to lessen its usefulness and to sap its safety. Thomas Jefferson abuse safety order When right, I shall often be thought wrong by those whose positions will not command a view of the whole ground. Thomas Jefferson public-opinion often-is views [A]lthough a republican government is slow to move, yet when once in motion, its momentum becomes irresistible. Thomas Jefferson momentum government moving
