Continued Insights from Thomas Jefferson

"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"

"Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny"

"Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very fast"

"So confident am I in the intentions, as well as wisdom, of the government, that I shall always be satisfied that what is not done, either cannot, or ought not to be done"

"Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter"

"We never repent of having eaten too little"

"Truth is certainly a branch of morality and a very important one to society"

"Books constitute capital. A library book lasts as long as a house, for hundreds of years. It is not, then, an article of mere consumption but fairly of capital, and often in the case of professional men, setting out in life, it is their only capital"

"Bodily decay is gloomy in prospect, but of all human contemplations the most abhorrent is body without mind"

"Be polite to all, but intimate with few"

"As our enemies have found we can reason like men, so now let us show them we can fight like men also"

"An injured friend is the bitterest of foes"

"An enemy generally says and believes what he wishes"

"An association of men who will not quarrel with one another is a thing which has never yet existed, from the greatest confederacy of nations down to a town meeting or a vestry"

"Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition"

"I am an Epicurean. I consider the genuine (not the imputed) doctrines of Epicurus as containing everything rational in moral philosophy which Greek and Roman leave to us"

"The way to silence religious disputes is to take no notice of them"

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants"

"Speeches that are measured by the hour will die with the hour"

"Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation, and freedom in all just pursuits"

"Our country is now taking so steady a course as to show by what road it will pass to destruction, to wit: by consolidation of power first, and then corruption, its necessary consequence"

"Only aim to do your duty, and mankind will give you credit where you fail"

"One travels more usefully when alone, because he reflects more"

"One man with courage is a majority"

"One loves to possess arms, though they hope never to have occasion for them"

"Nothing is unchangeable but the inherent and unalienable rights of man"

"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 circlue of our felicities"

"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"

"A coward is much more exposed to quarrels than a man of spirit"

"A Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference"

"All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression"

"Conquest is not in our principles. It is inconsistent with our government"

"Commerce with all nations, alliance with none, should be our motto"

"Leave all the afternoon for exercise and recreation, which are as necessary as reading. I will rather say more necessary because health is worth more than learning"

"It takes time to persuade men to do even what is for their own good"

"None but an armed nation can dispense with a standing army. To keep ours armed and disciplined is therefore at all times important"

"Money, not morality, is the principle commerce of civilized nations"

"Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains"

"That government is the strongest of which every man feels himself a part"

"If God is just, I tremble for my country"

"It is neither wealth nor splendor; but tranquility and occupation which give you happiness"

"It is more dangerous that even a guilty person should be punished without the forms of law than that he should escape"

"It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world"

"If there is one principle more deeply rooted in the mind of every American, it is that we should have nothing to do with conquest"

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Inspiring Quotes by Thomas Jefferson - Page 3