---
title: "6 Council Quotes By Thomas Jefferson"
description: "6 Council quotes by Thomas Jefferson. Plus more from Thomas Jefferson and more Council sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e4/thomas-jefferson-43_authority_if-it-is-believed-that-these-elementary_92310.jpg"
---

> [If it is believed that these elementary schools will be better managed by the governor and council or any other general authority…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/if-it-is-believed-that-these-elementary-schools-will-be-better/)

[Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e4/thomas-jefferson-43_authority_if-it-is-believed-that-these-elementary_92310.jpg)

> [On the subject of the history of the American Revolution, you ask who shall write it? Who can write it? And who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/on-the-subject-of-the-history-of-the-american-revolution-you-ask-who/)

[Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ae/thomas-jefferson-43_able_on-the-subject-of-the-history-of-the-ame_314441.jpg)

> [Still we did not expect to be without rubs and difficulties; and we have had them. First the detention of Western posts:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/still-we-did-not-expect-to-be-without-rubs-and-difficulties-and-we/)

[Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5e/thomas-jefferson-43_berlin_still-we-did-not-expect-to-be-without-ru_1514519.jpg)

> [From the circumstances of my position, I was often thrown into the society of horse-racers, card-players, fox-hunters, scientific and professional men, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/from-the-circumstances-of-my-position-i-was-often-thrown-into-the/)

[Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc7/thomas-jefferson-43_bars_from-the-circumstances-of-my-position-i_2235172.jpg)

> [In the legislature, the House of Representatives is chosen by less than half the people, and not at all in proportion to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/in-the-legislature-the-house-of-representatives-is-chosen-by-less/)

[Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b06/thomas-jefferson-43_choices_in-the-legislature-the-house-of-represen_2918977.jpg)

> [Perhaps it will be found that to obtain a just republic (and it is to secure our just rights that we resort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/perhaps-it-will-be-found-that-to-obtain-a-just-republic-and-it-is-to/)

[Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdf/thomas-jefferson-43_council_perhaps-it-will-be-found-that-to-obtain_3118268.jpg)

## Other authors on Council

## 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/)

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                        "text": "On the subject of the history of the American Revolution, you ask who shall write it? Who can write it? And who will ever be able to write it? Nobody, except merely its external facts... all its councils, designs and discussions having been conducted by Congress [behind] closed doors - and no members, as far as I know, having even made notes of them. These, which are the life and soul of history, must forever be unknown.",
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                        "text": "Still we did not expect to be without rubs and difficulties; and we have had them. First the detention of Western posts: then the coalition of Pilnitz, outlawing our commerce with France, and the British enforcement of the outlawry. In your day French depredations; in mine English, and the Berlin and Milan decrees: now the English orders of council, and the piracies they authorize. When these shall be over, it will the impressment of our seamen, or something else; and so we have gone on, and so we shall go on, puzzled and prospering beyond example in the history of man.",
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