President · American · 1743 – 1826 · 171 quotes
Nothing is unchangeable but the inherent and unalienable rights of man.
Thomas Jefferson
President · American · 1743 – 1826
Money, not morality, is the principle commerce of civilized nations.
It takes time to persuade men to do even what is for their own good.
It is more dangerous that even a guilty person should be punished without the forms of law than that he should escape.
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.
I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it.
I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.
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.
Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.
When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe.
Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching.
A coward is much more exposed to quarrels than a man of spirit.
History, in general, only informs us of what bad government is.
The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people; that... it is their right and duty to be at all times armed.
The earth belongs to the living, not to the dead.
Ignorance is preferable to error, and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing than he who believes what is wrong.
It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God.
One loves to possess arms, though they hope never to have occasion for them.
Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.
Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories.
Conquest is not in our principles. It is inconsistent with our government.
Errors of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it.
The glow of one warm thought is to me worth more than money.
All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.
In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.
I believe that every human mind feels pleasure in doing good to another.
The world is indebted for all triumphs which have been gained by reason and humanity over error and oppression.
The moment a person forms a theory, his imagination sees in every object only the traits which favor that theory.
I find that he is happiest of whom the world says least, good or bad.
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.
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.
Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances.
Commerce with all nations, alliance with none, should be our motto.
Do not bite at the bait of pleasure, till you know there is no hook beneath it.
Peace and abstinence from European interferences are our objects, and so will continue while the present order of things in America remain uninterrupted.
When angry count to ten before you speak. If very angry, count to one hundred.
Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe.
Don't talk about what you have done or what you are going to do.
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.
Force is the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism.
Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very fast.
Only aim to do your duty, and mankind will give you credit where you fail.
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.
I abhor war and view it as the greatest scourge of mankind.
I never will, by any word or act, bow to the shrine of intolerance or admit a right of inquiry into the religious opinions of others.
Leave no authority existing not responsible to the people.
Resort is had to ridicule only when reason is against us.
Advertisements contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper.
