Beginning Quote by Thomas Jefferson
“The result of your fifty or sixty years of religious reading in the four words: 'Be just and good,' is that in which all our enquiries must end.”
About This Quote
Source Writings: Letter to John Adams, 1785
Moral philosophy reduces complex religious study to a simple ethical principle of justice and goodness.
In simple terms: Justice and goodness summarize religious teaching.
Key Takeaway
Live justly and kindly.
Themes
ethics
religion
philosophy
Mood
reflective
thoughtful
Type
aphilosophical
ethical
When to use this quote
- personal conduct
- legal systems
- community building
Key Concepts
moral absolutism
humanism
Questions to Reflect On
- How can we apply 'be just and good' in modern pluralistic societies?
- What challenges arise when interpreting justice across cultures?
A Different Perspective
May overlook cultural nuances in moral judgments.
![“Reason and free inquiry are the only effectual agents against error... They are the natural enemies of error, and of error only... If [free enquiry] be restrained now, the present corruptions will be protected, and new ones encouraged.” quote by Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/645/thomas-jefferson-43_agents_reason-and-free-inquiry-are-the-only-eff_1546896.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/img-quotes/401/thomas-jefferson-43_branches_states-and-the-federal-government-are-co_2619.jpg)
![“Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of a day; but a series of oppressions, begun at a distinguished period and pursued unalterably through every change of ministers, too plainly prove a deliberate, systematic plan of reducing [a people] to slavery.” quote by Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/00c/thomas-jefferson-43_change_single-acts-of-tyranny-may-be-ascribed-t_5515.jpg)
![“Though you cannot see, when you take one step, what will be the next, yet follow truth, justice, and plain dealing, and never fear their leading you out of [any difficult situation] in the easiest manner possible...” quote by Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ebe/thomas-jefferson-43_difficult_though-you-cannot-see-when-you-take-one_9828.jpg)
