We are completely saddled and bridled, and... the bank is so firmly mounted on us that we must go where it will… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
When all government ...in little as in great things... shall be drawn to Washington as the center of all power; it will… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without government, I should not… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
The opinions of men are not the object of civil government, nor under its jurisdiction; that to suffer the civil magistrate to… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
[T]he States can best govern our home concerns and the general government our foreign ones. I wish, therefore . . . never… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
Every people may establish what form of government they please, and change it as they please, the will of the nation being… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
My passion strengthens daily to quit political turmoil, and retire into the bosom of my family, the only scene of sincere and… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
In every government on earth is some trace of human weakness, some germ of corruption and degeneracy, which cunning will discover, and… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
Does the government fear us? Or do we fear the government? When the people fear the government, tyranny has found victory. The… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
An elective despotism was not the government we fought for, but one which should not only be founded on true free principles,… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
Taxes should be continued by annual or biennial reenactments; because a constant hold by the nation of the strings of the public… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
I am convinced that those societies (such as the Native American peoples) which live without government enjoy in their general mass an… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
Religion, morality, and knowledge are necessary for good government... Therefore schools and the means of educating the people should always be encouraged. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
In a government bottomed on the will of all, the... liberty of every individual citizen becomes interesting to all. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
If, in my retirement to the humble station of a private citizen, I am accompanied with the esteem and approbation of my… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
To make us one nation as to foreign concerns, and keep us distinct in Domestic ones gives the outline of the proper… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
A government held together by the bands of reason only, requires much compromise of opinion. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
“The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest. Only aim to do your duty, and mankind will give… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
The germ of dissolution of our federal government is in the constitution of the federal judiciary; an irresponsible body, (for impeachment is… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
Taxation is, in fact, the most difficult function of government and that against which their citizens are most apt to be refractory. — 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