Thomas Jefferson Quotes

I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it

I sincerely believe... that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies

Be polite to all, but intimate with few

I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have

Our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions any more than our opinions in physics or geometry

Experience demands that man is the only animal which devours his own kind, for I can apply no milder term to the general prey of the rich on the poor

Every generation needs a new revolution

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

My theory has always been that if we are to dream, the flatteries of hope are as cheap, and pleasanter, as the real distresses of truth

I fear for our liberty when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever

Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude

When angry, count to ten before you speak; if very angry, count to one hundred

The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do

Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion

It is neither wealth nor splendor, but tranquillity and occupation, which give happiness

The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers

Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances

Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none

I have no fear that the result of our experiment will be that men may be trusted to govern themselves without a master

Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others?

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

I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep forever

No freeman shall be debarred the use of arms

We confide in our strength, without boasting of it; we respect that of others, without fearing it

We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt

Laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind

Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time, who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done, if we are always doing

Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal

When the press is free, and every man able to read, all is safe

Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty

The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature. They disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes

Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching

I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it

Delay is preferable to error

I am an enemy to all tyranny of the mind over the body

The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time

Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God

I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend

I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend

The most effectual means of preventing the perversion of power into tyranny are to illuminate, as far as practicable, the minds of the people at large

If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be

Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies

One man with courage is a majority

In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock

What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value

Never spend your money before you have it

That government is best which governs least

Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched

I cannot live without books

He who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and a third time, till at length it becomes habitual

Nothing is unchangeable but the inherent and unalienable rights of man

Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God

Delay is preferable to error

The glow of one warm thought is to me worth more than money

I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past

I cannot live without books

I am for freedom of religion, and against all maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendancy of one sect over another

Do not bite at the bait of pleasure till you know there is no hook beneath it

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them

The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government

An informed citizenry is at the heart of a dynamic democracy

The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government

There is nothing more unequal than the equal treatment of unequal people

It is always better to have no ideas than false ones; to believe nothing than to believe what is wrong

If there is any principle of the Constitution that more imperatively calls for attachment than any other, it is the principle of free inquiry

The earth belongs in usufruct to the living

I cannot live without books

I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man

The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government

Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you

No government ought to be without censors; and where the press is free, no one ever will

To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves, is sinful and tyrannical

I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man

A little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical

In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty

In questions of power, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution

I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past

Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty

I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind

The boisterous sea of liberty is never without a wave

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 is in our lives and not our words that our religion must be read

Too old to plant trees for my own gratification, I shall do it for posterity

The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family

The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest

It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg

The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers

The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield, and government to gain ground

Difference of opinion leads to inquiry, and inquiry to truth

Difference of opinion leads to inquiry, and inquiry to truth

We never repent of having eaten too little

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

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

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

I have ever deemed it more honorable and more profitable, too, to set a good example than to follow a bad one

On matters of principle, stand like a rock

A government big enough to give you everything you want is strong enough to take everything you have

The moment a person forms a theory, his imagination sees in every object only the traits which favor that theory

We are not to expect to be translated from despotism to liberty in a feather-bed