--- title: "2 Book reading Quotes By Thomas Jefferson" description: "2 Book reading quotes by Thomas Jefferson. Plus more from Thomas Jefferson and more Book reading sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/619/thomas-jefferson-43_age_some-men-look-at-constitutions-with-sanc_1106516.jpg" --- > [Some men look at Constitutions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem them, like the ark of the covenant, too sacred to be touched. They ascribe to the men of the preceding age a wisdom more than human, and suppose what they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/some-men-look-at-constitutions-with-sanctimonious-reverence-and-deem-2/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/619/thomas-jefferson-43_age_some-men-look-at-constitutions-with-sanc_1106516.jpg) > [From candlelight to early bedtime, I read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/from-candlelight-to-early-bedtime-i-read/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c4/thomas-jefferson-43_bedtime_from-candlelight-to-early-bedtime-i-read_2907978.jpg) ## Other authors on Book reading - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b011/author-henry-david-thoreau-41473.jpg) Henry David Thoreau 11 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book-reading/henry-david-thoreau/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b009/author-franz-kafka-35977.jpg) Franz Kafka 11 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book-reading/franz-kafka/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b001/author-amit-kalantri-279.jpg) Amit Kalantri 9 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book-reading/amit-kalantri/) - [Ralph Waldo Emerson 6 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book-reading/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## More by Thomas Jefferson > [A man has a right to use a saw, an axe, a plane, separately; may he not combine their uses on the same piece…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/a-man-has-a-right-to-use-a-saw-an-axe-a-plane-separately-may-he-not/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [ \[States and the Federal government are\] coordinate departments of one simple and integral whole... The one is the domestic, the other the foreign branch… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/states-and-the-federal-government-are-coordinate-departments-of-one/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [I am for freedom of religion, and against all maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendency of one sect over another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-am-for-freedom-of-religion-and-against-all-maneuvers-to-bring-about/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of a day; but a series of oppressions, begun at a distinguished period…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/single-acts-of-tyranny-may-be-ascribed-to-the-accidental-opinion-of-a/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“Perceiving the order of nature to be that individual happiness shall be inseparable from the practice of virtue, I am willing to hope it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/perceiving-the-order-of-nature-to-be-that-individual-happiness-shall/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Free government is founded in jealousy, and not in confidence; it is jealousy, and not confidence, which prescribes limited constitutions, to bind down those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/free-government-is-founded-in-jealousy-and-not-in-confidence-it-is/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Though you cannot see, when you take one step, what will be the next, yet follow truth, justice, and plain dealing, and never fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/though-you-cannot-see-when-you-take-one-step-what-will-be-the-next/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [A well informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/a-well-informed-citizenry-is-the-best-defense-against-tyranny/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The two principles on which our conduct towards the Indians should be founded are justice and fear. After the injuries we have done them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-two-principles-on-which-our-conduct-towards-the-indians-should-be/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Knowledge is power...knowled ge is safety...knowle dge is happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/knowledge-is-power-knowled-ge-is-safety-knowle-dge-is-happiness/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [There is... an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth, without either virtue or talents... The artificial aristocracy is a mischievous ingredient in government,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/there-is-an-artificial-aristocracy-founded-on-wealth-and-birth/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Nothing but free argument, raillery and even ridicule will preserve the purity of religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/nothing-but-free-argument-raillery-and-even-ridicule-will-preserve/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [When the people are afraid of the government, that's tyranny. But when the government is afraid of the people, that's liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/when-the-people-are-afraid-of-the-government-that-s-tyranny-but-when/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/we-hold-these-truths-to-be-self-evident-that-all-men-are-created/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book-reading/thomas-jefferson/#itemlist", "name": "2 Book reading Quotes By Thomas Jefferson", "numberOfItems": 2, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Some men look at Constitutions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem them, like the ark of the covenant, too sacred to be touched. They ascribe to the men of the preceding age a wisdom more than human, and suppose what they did to be beyond amendment. I knew that age well; I belonged to and labored with it. It deserved well of its country. It was very like the present, but without the experience of the present; and forty years of experience in Government is worth a century of book-reading; and this they would say themselves, were they to rise from the dead.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Jefferson" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/some-men-look-at-constitutions-with-sanctimonious-reverence-and-deem-2/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/619/thomas-jefferson-43_age_some-men-look-at-constitutions-with-sanc_1106516.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/619/thomas-jefferson-43_age_some-men-look-at-constitutions-with-sanc_1106516.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/619/thomas-jefferson-43_age_some-men-look-at-constitutions-with-sanc_1106516.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Some men look at Constitutions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem them, like the ark of the covenant…” — Thomas Jefferson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "From candlelight to early bedtime, I read.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Jefferson" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/from-candlelight-to-early-bedtime-i-read/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c4/thomas-jefferson-43_bedtime_from-candlelight-to-early-bedtime-i-read_2907978.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c4/thomas-jefferson-43_bedtime_from-candlelight-to-early-bedtime-i-read_2907978.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c4/thomas-jefferson-43_bedtime_from-candlelight-to-early-bedtime-i-read_2907978.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“From candlelight to early bedtime, I read.” — Thomas Jefferson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book-reading/thomas-jefferson/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book-reading/thomas-jefferson/", "name": "Book reading Quotes by Thomas Jefferson", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book-reading/thomas-jefferson/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/619/thomas-jefferson-43_age_some-men-look-at-constitutions-with-sanc_1106516.jpg" }, "description": "2 Book reading quotes by Thomas Jefferson. 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