--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am increasingly persuaded that the…" description: "\"I am increasingly persuaded that the earth belongs exclusively to the living and that one generation has no more right to bind another to it's laws and..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81b/thomas-jefferson-43_command_i-am-increasingly-persuaded-that-the-ear_1756589.jpg" --- # I am increasingly persuaded that the earth belongs… ![“I am increasingly persuaded that the earth belongs exclusively to the living and that one generation has no more right to bind another to it's laws and judgments than one independent nation has the right to command another.” quote by Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81b/thomas-jefferson-43_command_i-am-increasingly-persuaded-that-the-ear_1756589.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81b/thomas-jefferson-43_command_i-am-increasingly-persuaded-that-the-ear_1756589.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81b/thomas-jefferson-43_command_i-am-increasingly-persuaded-that-the-ear_1756589.jpg) > “I am increasingly persuaded that the earth belongs exclusively to the living and that one generation has no more right to bind another to it's laws and judgments than one independent nation has the right to command another.” [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. Human rights belong to living beings, not to previous generations' imposed laws; each nation should respect others' autonomy. **In simple terms:** Living have rights; nations should not dominate. Key Takeaway Respect autonomy and reject imposed authority. Themes human rights generational justice sovereignty law ethics Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical political When to use this quote - policy making - international law - environmental stewardship - education curricula Key Concepts political philosophy intergenerational ethics colonial critique Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance tradition with autonomy? - What responsibilities do we have to future generations? A Different Perspective Practical implementation of these ideals is complex. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generations/) [Judgment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judgment/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) ## Related quotes > [No generation has a right to contract debts greater than can be paid off during the course of its own existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/no-generation-has-a-right-to-contract-debts-greater-than-can-be-paid/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Each generation has a right to choose for itself the form of government it believes most promotive of its happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/each-generation-has-a-right-to-choose-for-itself-the-form-of/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The present generation has the same right of self-government which the past one has exercised for itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-present-generation-has-the-same-right-of-self-government-which/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [It is a misnomer to call a government republican in which a branch of the supreme power is independent of the nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/it-is-a-misnomer-to-call-a-government-republican-in-which-a-branch-of/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“We seem not to perceive that, by the law of nature, one generation is to another as one independent nation is to another.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/we-seem-not-to-perceive-that-by-the-law-of-nature-one-generation-is/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [No society can make a perpetual constitution... The earth belongs always to the living generation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/no-society-can-make-a-perpetual-constitution-the-earth-belongs-always/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [I set out on this ground which I suppose to be self-evident, that the earth belongs in usufruct to the living. . . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-set-out-on-this-ground-which-i-suppose-to-be-self-evident-that-the-3/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The earth belongs to the living. No man can, by natural right, oblige the lands he occupied or the persons who succeed him in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-earth-belongs-to-the-living-no-man-can-by-natural-right-oblige/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [I set out on this ground, which I suppose to be self evident, "that the earth belongs in usufruct to the living": that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-set-out-on-this-ground-which-i-suppose-to-be-self-evident-that-the/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The earth belongs to the living, not to the dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-earth-belongs-to-the-living-not-to-the-dead/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“The earth belongs always to the living generations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-earth-belongs-always-to-the-living-generations/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Certitude belongs exclusively to those who only look in one encyclopedia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/certitude-belongs-exclusively-to-those-who-only-look-in-one/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [“Crime belongs exclusively to the lower orders. I don't blame them in the smallest degree. I should fancy that crime was to them what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/crime-belongs-exclusively-to-the-lower-orders-i-don-t-blame-them-in/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Certitude belongs exclusively to those who only own one encyclopedia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/certitude-belongs-exclusively-to-those-who-only-own-one-encyclopedia/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [“Nobody as the right to give up on a whole generation before it's even had a right to prove itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-willow-wilson/nobody-as-the-right-to-give-up-on-a-whole-generation-before-it-s-even/) [G. Willow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-willow-wilson/) ## 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 Command quotes > [Why couldn't Jesus command us to obsess over everything, to try to control and manipulate people, to try not to breathe at all, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/why-couldn-t-jesus-command-us-to-obsess-over-everything-to-try-to/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [Geometry, which should only obey Physics, when united with it sometimes commands it. If it happens that the question which we wish to examine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/geometry-which-should-only-obey-physics-when-united-with-it-sometimes/) [Jean le Rond d'Alembert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/) > [I started with the belief that every person who came to the laboratory was free to accept or to reject the dictates of authority.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-milgram/i-started-with-the-belief-that-every-person-who-came-to-the/) [Stanley Milgram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-milgram/) > [Daily contact with some teachers is itself all-sided ethical education for the child without a spoken precept. Here, too, the real advantage of male…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-stanley-hall/daily-contact-with-some-teachers-is-itself-all-sided-ethical/) [G. Stanley Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-stanley-hall/) > [Our beliefs are like the unquestioned commands, telling us how things are, what's possible and what's impossible, what we can and can not do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-robbins/our-beliefs-are-like-the-unquestioned-commands-telling-us-how-things/) [Tony Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-robbins/) > [Why has no religion this command before all others: Thou shalt work?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/berthold-auerbach/why-has-no-religion-this-command-before-all-others-thou-shalt-work/) [Berthold Auerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/berthold-auerbach/) > [I ask one thing only: I ask for the right to hope, to suffer as I do. But if even that cannot be, command…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-ask-one-thing-only-i-ask-for-the-right-to-hope-to-suffer-as-i-do/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [When you're in command, command.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-w-nimitz/when-you-re-in-command-command/) [Chester W. Nimitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-w-nimitz/) > [No one holds command over me. No man. No god. No Prince. What is a claim of age for ones who are immortal? What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/no-one-holds-command-over-me-no-man-no-god-no-prince-what-is-a-claim/) [Hunter S. 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Branscomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-m-branscomb/) Browse all 1,694 Command quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I am increasingly persuaded that the earth belongs exclusively to the living and that one generation has no more right to bind another to it's laws and judgments than one independent nation has the right to command another.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Jefferson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-am-increasingly-persuaded-that-the-earth-belongs-exclusively-to-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Command" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-am-increasingly-persuaded-that-the-earth-belongs-exclusively-to-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81b/thomas-jefferson-43_command_i-am-increasingly-persuaded-that-the-ear_1756589.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81b/thomas-jefferson-43_command_i-am-increasingly-persuaded-that-the-ear_1756589.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81b/thomas-jefferson-43_command_i-am-increasingly-persuaded-that-the-ear_1756589.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I am increasingly persuaded that the earth belongs exclusively to the living and that one generation has no…” — 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": "I am increasingly persuaded that the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-am-increasingly-persuaded-that-the-earth-belongs-exclusively-to-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-am-increasingly-persuaded-that-the-earth-belongs-exclusively-to-the/#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 } } ] } ```