--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For themselves they fought, for…" description: "\"For themselves they fought, for themselves they conquered, and for themselves alone they have they have right to hold.\" — Thomas Jefferson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdb/thomas-jefferson-43_conquered_for-themselves-they-fought-for-themselve_440959.jpg" --- # For themselves they fought, for themselves they conquered… ![“For themselves they fought, for themselves they conquered, and for themselves alone they have they have right to hold.” quote by Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdb/thomas-jefferson-43_conquered_for-themselves-they-fought-for-themselve_440959.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdb/thomas-jefferson-43_conquered_for-themselves-they-fought-for-themselve_440959.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdb/thomas-jefferson-43_conquered_for-themselves-they-fought-for-themselve_440959.jpg) > “For themselves they fought, for themselves they conquered, and for themselves alone they have they have right to hold.” [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote asserts that individuals earn the right to self‑determination through personal effort and conquest. **In simple terms:** Self‑rights come from personal struggle and victory. Key Takeaway Empower yourself through personal achievement. Themes rights self‑determination effort Mood critical thoughtful Type political philosophical When to use this quote - activism - leadership - personal development Key Concepts political philosophy individualism Questions to Reflect On - What societal factors affect personal rights? - How can collective action support individual empowerment? A Different Perspective It overlooks systemic barriers that limit individual agency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Conquered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conquered/) [Conquered Right](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conquered-right-3867562/) [Fought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fought/) [Fought Conquered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fought-conquered-1604774/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Right Hold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/right-hold-2484223/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) ## Related quotes > [“The world is one of the enemies which must be fought and conquered on the way to heaven.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-bounds/the-world-is-one-of-the-enemies-which-must-be-fought-and-conquered-on/) [E.M. Bounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-bounds/) > [ He \[Jesus\] fought and conquered. On the one hand, he was man who struggled for his fathers and through his obedience cancelled their disobedience.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irenaeus-of-lyons/he-jesus-fought-and-conquered-on-the-one-hand-he-was-man-who/) [Irenaeus of Lyons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irenaeus-of-lyons/) > [When a woman finds a guy who treats them right, they should hold on to him with both legs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/when-a-woman-finds-a-guy-who-treats-them-right-they-should-hold-on-to/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [It is all right to hold a conversation but you should let go of it now and then.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-armour/it-is-all-right-to-hold-a-conversation-but-you-should-let-go-of-it/) [Richard Armour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-armour/) > [Dating is about finding out who's right for you and who's wrong for you. If they're wrong for you move on, if they're right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonya-parker/dating-is-about-finding-out-who-s-right-for-you-and-who-s-wrong-for/) [Sonya Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonya-parker/) > [I'm not suggesting for a minute that you settle for the first half-decent man who comes along - every woman has the right to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-garraway/i-m-not-suggesting-for-a-minute-that-you-settle-for-the-first-half/) [Kate Garraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-garraway/) > [Along with racial equality and the late bloom of women's rights, future generations will have to explain how, in the past, gays were misunderstood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/io-tillett-wright/along-with-racial-equality-and-the-late-bloom-of-women-s-rights/) [iO Tillett Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/io-tillett-wright/) > [“When it’s just you, just me, no one around to tell us how we should be—I know we could have made it. I know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coco-j-ginger/when-it-s-just-you-just-me-no-one-around-to-tell-us-how-we-should-be/) [Coco J. Ginger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coco-j-ginger/) > [The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-de-coubertin/the-essential-thing-is-not-to-have-conquered-but-to-have-fought-well/) [Pierre de Coubertin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-de-coubertin/) > [I came, I saw, I conquered From record sales to sold out concerts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-z/i-came-i-saw-i-conquered-from-record-sales-to-sold-out-concerts/) [Jay-Z](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-z/) > [Of course, mankind would not have landed on the Moon in 1969, were it not for two things: conquered Nazi rocket technology and post-war…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-duke/of-course-mankind-would-not-have-landed-on-the-moon-in-1969-were-it/) [Charles Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-duke/) > [My honour was not yielded, but conquered merely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cleopatra/my-honour-was-not-yielded-but-conquered-merely/) [Cleopatra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cleopatra/) > [“We were thinking, we have conquered time but, ‘HE’ replied in 2020.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajesh-walecha/we-were-thinking-we-have-conquered-time-but-he-replied-in-2020/) [Rajesh Walecha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajesh-walecha/) > [Defeat furnishes good material to the poets and the artists, but none of us care to have the glory of the conquered apply to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-glaspell/defeat-furnishes-good-material-to-the-poets-and-the-artists-but-none/) [Susan Glaspell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-glaspell/) > [Here's the reality. The image of a white Jesus has been used to justify enslavement, conquest, colonialism, the genocide of indigenous peoples. There are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/here-s-the-reality-the-image-of-a-white-jesus-has-been-used-to/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) ## More by Thomas Jefferson > [A man has a right to use a saw, an axe, a plane, separately; may he not combine their uses on the same piece…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/a-man-has-a-right-to-use-a-saw-an-axe-a-plane-separately-may-he-not/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [ \[States and the Federal government are\] coordinate departments of one simple and integral whole... The one is the domestic, the other the foreign branch… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/states-and-the-federal-government-are-coordinate-departments-of-one/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [I am for freedom of religion, and against all maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendency of one sect over another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-am-for-freedom-of-religion-and-against-all-maneuvers-to-bring-about/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of a day; but a series of oppressions, begun at a distinguished period…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/single-acts-of-tyranny-may-be-ascribed-to-the-accidental-opinion-of-a/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“Perceiving the order of nature to be that individual happiness shall be inseparable from the practice of virtue, I am willing to hope it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/perceiving-the-order-of-nature-to-be-that-individual-happiness-shall/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Free government is founded in jealousy, and not in confidence; it is jealousy, and not confidence, which prescribes limited constitutions, to bind down those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/free-government-is-founded-in-jealousy-and-not-in-confidence-it-is/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Though you cannot see, when you take one step, what will be the next, yet follow truth, justice, and plain dealing, and never fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/though-you-cannot-see-when-you-take-one-step-what-will-be-the-next/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [A well informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/a-well-informed-citizenry-is-the-best-defense-against-tyranny/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The two principles on which our conduct towards the Indians should be founded are justice and fear. After the injuries we have done them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-two-principles-on-which-our-conduct-towards-the-indians-should-be/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Knowledge is power...knowled ge is safety...knowle dge is happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/knowledge-is-power-knowled-ge-is-safety-knowle-dge-is-happiness/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [There is... an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth, without either virtue or talents... The artificial aristocracy is a mischievous ingredient in government,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/there-is-an-artificial-aristocracy-founded-on-wealth-and-birth/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Nothing but free argument, raillery and even ridicule will preserve the purity of religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/nothing-but-free-argument-raillery-and-even-ridicule-will-preserve/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [When the people are afraid of the government, that's tyranny. But when the government is afraid of the people, that's liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/when-the-people-are-afraid-of-the-government-that-s-tyranny-but-when/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“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,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/we-hold-these-truths-to-be-self-evident-that-all-men-are-created/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) [Explore all 2,098 Thomas Jefferson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) ## More Conquered quotes > [Here's the reality. The image of a white Jesus has been used to justify enslavement, conquest, colonialism, the genocide of indigenous peoples. There are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/here-s-the-reality-the-image-of-a-white-jesus-has-been-used-to/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [Defeat furnishes good material to the poets and the artists, but none of us care to have the glory of the conquered apply to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-glaspell/defeat-furnishes-good-material-to-the-poets-and-the-artists-but-none/) [Susan Glaspell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-glaspell/) > [“We were thinking, we have conquered time but, ‘HE’ replied in 2020.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajesh-walecha/we-were-thinking-we-have-conquered-time-but-he-replied-in-2020/) [Rajesh Walecha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajesh-walecha/) > [My honour was not yielded, but conquered merely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cleopatra/my-honour-was-not-yielded-but-conquered-merely/) [Cleopatra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cleopatra/) > [The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-de-coubertin/the-essential-thing-is-not-to-have-conquered-but-to-have-fought-well/) [Pierre de Coubertin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-de-coubertin/) > [Of course, mankind would not have landed on the Moon in 1969, were it not for two things: conquered Nazi rocket technology and post-war…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-duke/of-course-mankind-would-not-have-landed-on-the-moon-in-1969-were-it/) [Charles Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-duke/) > [I came, I saw, I conquered From record sales to sold out concerts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-z/i-came-i-saw-i-conquered-from-record-sales-to-sold-out-concerts/) [Jay-Z](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-z/) > [Like us many have spoken over this spring, but they were gone in the twinkling of an eye. We conquered the world with bravery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/babur/like-us-many-have-spoken-over-this-spring-but-they-were-gone-in-the/) [Babur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/babur/) > [“Life was terrible. It was as though they could understand, as though they could read in one another’s eyes, that the power which had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-grossman/life-was-terrible-it-was-as-though-they-could-understand-as-though/) [Vasily Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-grossman/) > [When the enemies' land force is once conquered and expelled from the continent, our Marine will rise as if by enchantment and become, within…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-paul-jones/when-the-enemies-land-force-is-once-conquered-and-expelled-from-the/) [John Paul Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-paul-jones/) > [Do not ever go back to that from which decided to leave. As much as you did not ask, and how would you not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-monroe/do-not-ever-go-back-to-that-from-which-decided-to-leave-as-much-as/) [Marilyn Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-monroe/) > [Addiction is rarely conquered alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-hopkins/addiction-is-rarely-conquered-alone/) [Ellen Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-hopkins/) > [“Boy, there are people who conquered half the world, slaughtered whole populations, wiped cultures off the face of the planet, and you know what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-maberry/boy-there-are-people-who-conquered-half-the-world-slaughtered-whole/) [Jonathan Maberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-maberry/) > [A nation is not conquered which is perpetually to be conquered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/a-nation-is-not-conquered-which-is-perpetually-to-be-conquered/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [Only through time time is conquered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/only-through-time-time-is-conquered/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 256 Conquered quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conquered/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "For themselves they fought, for themselves they conquered, and for themselves alone they have they have right to hold.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Jefferson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/for-themselves-they-fought-for-themselves-they-conquered-and-for/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Conquered" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/for-themselves-they-fought-for-themselves-they-conquered-and-for/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdb/thomas-jefferson-43_conquered_for-themselves-they-fought-for-themselve_440959.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdb/thomas-jefferson-43_conquered_for-themselves-they-fought-for-themselve_440959.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdb/thomas-jefferson-43_conquered_for-themselves-they-fought-for-themselve_440959.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“For themselves they fought, for themselves they conquered, and for themselves alone they have they have…” — Thomas Jefferson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Thomas Jefferson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "For themselves they fought, for themselves...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/for-themselves-they-fought-for-themselves-they-conquered-and-for/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/for-themselves-they-fought-for-themselves-they-conquered-and-for/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```