"A strict observance of the written laws is……" — Thomas Jefferson
"A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the highest virtues of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to written law would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the end to the means."
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Thomas Jefferson
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1,437 Quotes by Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson has 1,437 quotes on this site.
A few more worth reading:
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Religious leaders will always avail themselves of public ignorance for their own purpose.
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Born in other countries, yet believing you could be happy in this, our laws acknowledge, as they should do, your…
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[Emigrants] will bring with them the principles of the governments they leave, imbibed in their early youth; or, if able…
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The only security of all is in a free press. The force of public opinion cannot be resisted when permitted…
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It is strangely absurd to suppose that a million of human beings, collected together, are not under the same moral…
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The sentiments of men are known not only by what they receive, but what they reject also.
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If ever there was a holy war, it was that which saved our liberties and gave us independence.
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We prefer war in all cases to tribute under any form and to any people whatever.
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I have always said that a studious perusal of the sacred volume will make better citizens, better fathers, and better…
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The sovereign invigorator of the body is exercise, and of all the exercises walking is the best.
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It is not only vain, but wicked, in a legislator to frame laws in opposition to the laws of nature,…
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Motherhood is the keystone of the arch of matrimonial happiness.
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More Absurdly Quotes
This quote is filed under Absurdly Quotes,
one of 52 quotes in that category. Here are a few more:
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It is most absurdly said, in popular language, of any man, that he is disguised in liquor; for, on the…
— Thomas de Quincey
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We find nothing easier than being wise, patient, superior. We drip with the oil of forbearance and sympathy, we are…
— Friedrich Nietzsche
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It appears to me that those who rely simply on the weight of authority to prove any assertion, without searching…
— Unknown Author
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The absurdly neurotic role you and the rest of your kind have always attributed to me Erato, the Goddess Muse…
— John Fowles
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Only by living absurdly is it possible to break out of this infinite absurdity.
— Julio Cortazar
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I'd like to vote for the candidate similar to the one the Right absurdly claims Obama is.
— Glenn Greenwald
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The role of Ronald Reagan had been deliberately diminished; the role of the Europeans, who, with the exception of Helmet…
— Margaret Thatcher
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To win respect, the networks seem to feel they have to keep absurdly overstating their anchors' reporting cred
— Tina Brown
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QUIXOTIC, adj. Absurdly chivalric, like Don Quixote. An insight into the beauty and excellence of this incomparable adjective is unhappily…
— Ambrose Bierce
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Brutes find out where their talents lie; A bear will not attempt to fly, A foundered horse will oft debate…
— Jonathan Swift
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Astronomy leads us to a unique event, a universe which was created out of nothing, and delicately balanced to provide…
— Arno Allan Penzias
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Great creativity is astonishingly, absurdly, rationally, irrationally powerful.
— Andy Hobsbawm
See all 52 Absurdly Quotes »