Thomas Jefferson And Quotations

We are not to expect to be translated from despotism to liberty in a featherbed.

I own that I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive.

My theory has always been, that if we are to dream, the flatteries of hope are as cheap, and pleasanter, than the gloom of despair.

Traveling makes a man wiser, but less happy.

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.

The good sense of the people will always be found to be the best army

We are endeavoring, too, to reduce the government to the practice of a rigorous economy, to avoid burdening the people, and arming the magistrate with patronage of money, which might be used to corrupt and undermine the principles of our government

It is the trade of lawyers to question everything, yield nothing, and talk by the hour.

I... [am] convinced [man] has no natural right in opposition to his social duties.

A truth now and then projecting into the ocean of newspaper lies serves like headlands to correct our course. Indeed, my scepticism as to everything I see in a newspaper makes me indifferent whether I ever see one.

Truth is great and will prevail if left to herself.

Wine brightens the life and thinking of anyone

Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst, and cold.

The worst day in a man's life is when he sits down and begins thinking about how he can get something for nothing.

Good humor is one of the preservatives of our peace and tranquility.

Nobody can acquire honor by doing what is wrong.

I do not find in orthodox Christianity one redeeming feature.

The firmness with which the (American) people have withstood the... abuses of the press, the discernment they have manifested between truth and falsehood, show that they may safely be trusted to hear everything true and false and to form a correct judgment between them.

The main objects of all science, the freedom and happiness of man. . . . [are] the sole objects of all legitimate government. A plaque with this quotation, with the first phrase omitted, is in the stairwell of the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.

Yet by such worthless beings is a great nation to be governed and even made to deify their old king because he is only a fool and a maniac, and to forgive and forget his having lost to them a great and flourishing empire.

If the happiness of the mass of mankind can be secured at the expense of a little tempest now and then, or even of a little blood, it will be a precious purchase.

Victory and defeat are each of the same price.