Famous Quotes

Quotes by Thomas Jefferson

• I abhor war and view it as the greatest scourge of mankind.
• I believe that every human mind feels pleasure in doing good to another.
• I find that he is happiest of whom the world says least, good or bad.
• I have no ambition to govern men it is a painful and thankless office.
• I have no fear that the result of our experiment will be that men may be trusted to govern themselves without a master.
• 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 hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be.
• I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country.
• I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them but to inform their discretion.
• I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.
• I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.
• I own that I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive.
• I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just that his justice cannot sleep forever.
• I was bold in the pursuit of knowledge, never fearing to follow truth and reason to whatever results they led, and bearding every authority which stood in their way.
• If God is just, I tremble for my country.
• If we can but prevent the government from wasting the labours of the people, under the pretence of taking care of them, they must become happy.
• Ignorance is preferable to error, and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing than he who believes what is wrong.
• In every country and every age, the priest had been hostile to Liberty.
• In truth, politeness is artificial good humor, it covers the natural want of it, and ends by rendering habitual a substitute nearly equivalent to the real virtue.
• 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.
• It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God.
• It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.
• It is in our lives and not our words that our religion must be read.
• It is neither wealth nor splendor but tranquility and occupation which give you happiness.
• It is our duty still to endeavor to avoid war but if it shall actually take place, no matter by whom brought on, we must defend ourselves. If our house be on fire, without inquiring whether it was fired from within or without, we must try to extinguish it.
• It takes time to persuade men to do even what is for their own good.