A first attempt to recover the right of self government may fail, so may a second, a third, etc. But as a… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
I think we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
When the people fear the government there is tyranny, when the government fears the people there is liberty. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
I place economy among the first and most important virtues and public debt as the greatest dangers to be feared... We must… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
The further the departure from direct and constant control by the citizens, the less has the government of the ingredient of republicanism. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
By a declaration of rights, I mean one which shall stipulate freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of commerce against… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
The greatest calamity which could befall us would be submission to a government of unlimited powers. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
The main objects of all science, the freedom and happiness of man. . . . [are] the sole objects of all legitimate… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
The best commentary on the principles of government which has ever been written. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
We think, in America, that it is necessary to introduce the people into every department of government, as far as they are… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
It is a wise rule and should be fundamental in a government disposed to cherish its credit, and at the same time… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
The policy of the American government is to leave their citizens free, neither restraining nor aiding them in their pursuits. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
The present generation has the same right of self-government which the past one has exercised for itself. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
Whensoever the General Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
May [our Declaration of Independence] be to the world, what I believe it will be (to some parts sooner, to others later,… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
The purpose of government is to enable the people of a nation to live in safety and happiness. Government exists for the… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretense of taking care of them, they… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
Those characters wherein fear predominates over hope may apprehend too much from...instances of irregularity. They may conclude too hastily that nature has… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
I consider trial by jury as the only anchor ever yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
I do believe that General Washington had not a firm confidence in the durability of our government. He was naturally distrustful of… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
I deny the power of the general government to making paper money, or anything else a legal tender. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
A man has a right to use a saw, an axe, a plane, separately; may he not combine their uses on the same piece… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
[States and the Federal government are] coordinate departments of one simple and integral whole... The one is the domestic, the other the foreign branch… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
I am for freedom of religion, and against all maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendency of one sect over another. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of a day; but a series of oppressions, begun at a distinguished period… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
“Perceiving the order of nature to be that individual happiness shall be inseparable from the practice of virtue, I am willing to hope it… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
Free government is founded in jealousy, and not in confidence; it is jealousy, and not confidence, which prescribes limited constitutions, to bind down those… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
Though you cannot see, when you take one step, what will be the next, yet follow truth, justice, and plain dealing, and never fear… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
The two principles on which our conduct towards the Indians should be founded are justice and fear. After the injuries we have done them,… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
Knowledge is power...knowled ge is safety...knowle dge is happiness. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
There is... an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth, without either virtue or talents... The artificial aristocracy is a mischievous ingredient in government,… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
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