I have no ambition to govern men; it is a painful and thankless office. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
No government can continue good, but under the control of the people. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
A free people [claim] their rights as derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
It is not by the consolidation or concentration of powers but by their distribution that good government is effected. — 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
We ought not to schismatize on either men or measures. Principles alone can justify that. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
The only greater [evil] than separation... [is] living under a government of discretion. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
The last hope of human liberty in this world rests on us. we ought, for so dear a stake, to sacrifice every… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
The true foundation of republican government is the equal right of every citizen in his person and property and in their management. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
The ordinary affairs of a nation offer little difficulty to a person of any experience. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
The opinions of men should not be the object of any government. Our civil rights are no more dependent on our religious… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
[T]he opinion which gives to the judges the right to decide what laws are constitutional and what not, not only for themselves,… — 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… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
The end of democracy and the defeat of the American Revolution will occur when government falls into the hands of lending institutions… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
I am for a government rigorously frugal and simple, applying all the possible savings of the public revenue to the discharge of… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
I do love this people [the French] with all my heart, and think that with a better religion and a better form… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
I rejoice when I hear of young men of virtue and talents, worthy to receive and likely to preserve the splendid inheritance… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
We have solved, by fair experiment, the great and interesting question whether freedom of religion is compatible with order in government and… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
I see,... and with the deepest affliction, the rapid strides with which the federal branch of our government is advancing towards the… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
It [appears] that however certain forms of government are better calculated than others to protect individuals in the free exercise of their… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
The care of every man's soul belongs to himself. But what if he neglect the care of it? Well what if he… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
We may say with truth and meaning, that governments are more or less republican, as they have more or less of the… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
At the time we were funding our national debt, we heard much about "a public debt being a public blessing"; that the… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
Should look forward to a time, and that not a distant one, when corruption in this, as in the country from which… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
ONLY a government that is AFRAID of its citizens tries to control them. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
The tender breasts of ladies were not formed for political convulsion. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share Image
It will be said that great societies cannot exist without government. — 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
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
[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
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
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
“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
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
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
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
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
Nothing but free argument, raillery and even ridicule will preserve the purity of religion. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share
When the people are afraid of the government, that's tyranny. But when the government is afraid of the people, that's liberty. — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share
“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,… — Thomas Jefferson Copy Share
![“A free people [claim] their rights as derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate.” quote by Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a2/thomas-jefferson-43_4th-of-july_a-free-people-claim-their-rights-as-deri_1508457.jpg)
![“The only greater [evil] than separation... [is] living under a government of discretion.” quote by Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e6/thomas-jefferson-43_discretion_the-only-greater-evil-than-separation-is_3151926.jpg)
![“[T]he opinion which gives to the judges the right to decide what laws are constitutional and what not, not only for themselves, in their, own sphere of action, but for the Legislature and Executive also in their spheres, would make the Judiciary a despotic branch.” quote by Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cfa/thomas-jefferson-43_action_t-he-opinion-which-gives-to-the-judges-t_2055401.jpg)
![“[States and the Federal government are] coordinate departments of one simple and integral whole... The one is the domestic, the other the foreign branch of the same government.” quote by Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/401/thomas-jefferson-43_branches_states-and-the-federal-government-are-co_2619.jpg)
![“I do love this people [the French] with all my heart, and think that with a better religion and a better form of government and their present governors their condition and country would be most enviable.” quote by Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d2/thomas-jefferson-43_conditions_i-do-love-this-people-the-french-with-al_1131931.jpg)
![“It [appears] that however certain forms of government are better calculated than others to protect individuals in the free exercise of their natural rights, and are at the same time themselves better guarded against degeneracy, yet experience [has] shown that, even under the best forms, those…” quote by Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fd/thomas-jefferson-43_certain_it-appears-that-however-certain-forms-of_1041215.jpg)
