--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have given up newspapers in exchange…" description: "\"I have given up newspapers in exchange for Tacitus and Thucydides, for Newton and Euclid; and I find myself much the happier.\" — Thomas Jefferson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b1/thomas-jefferson-43_euclid_i-have-given-up-newspapers-in-exchange-f_149271.jpg" --- # I have given up newspapers in exchange for Tacitus and… ![“I have given up newspapers in exchange for Tacitus and Thucydides, for Newton and Euclid; and I find myself much the happier.” quote by Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b1/thomas-jefferson-43_euclid_i-have-given-up-newspapers-in-exchange-f_149271.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b1/thomas-jefferson-43_euclid_i-have-given-up-newspapers-in-exchange-f_149271.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b1/thomas-jefferson-43_euclid_i-have-given-up-newspapers-in-exchange-f_149271.jpg) > “I have given up newspapers in exchange for Tacitus and Thucydides, for Newton and Euclid; and I find myself much the happier.” [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. Replacing newspapers with classic literature and science improves personal happiness. **In simple terms:** Reading classic works makes him happier than news. Key Takeaway Read timeless literature for fulfillment. Themes literature science happiness learning growth Mood reflective contented Type personal educational When to use this quote - personal study - educational curricula - leisure activities Key Concepts humanities intellectual enrichment Questions to Reflect On - What classic works have impacted you most? - How does reading shape your worldview? A Different Perspective May not suit everyone’s interests. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Euclid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/euclid/) [Happier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happier/) [Journalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journalism/) [Newspapers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/newspapers/) [Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/newton/) ## Related quotes > [We are given in our newspapers and on TV and radio exactly what we, the public, insist on having, and this very frequently is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-roosevelt/we-are-given-in-our-newspapers-and-on-tv-and-radio-exactly-what-we/) [Eleanor Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-roosevelt/) > [The new painters do not propose, any more than did their predecessors, to be geometers. But it may be said that geometry is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillaume-apollinaire/the-new-painters-do-not-propose-any-more-than-did-their-predecessors/) [Guillaume Apollinaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillaume-apollinaire/) > [“... I left Caen, where I was living, to go on a geological excursion under the auspices of the School of Mines. The incidents…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-poincare/i-left-caen-where-i-was-living-to-go-on-a-geological-excursion-under/) [Henri Poincaré](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-poincare/) > [It is shocking that young people should be addling their brains over mere logical subtleties in Euclid's Elements, trying to understand the proof of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-heaviside/it-is-shocking-that-young-people-should-be-addling-their-brains-over/) [Oliver Heaviside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-heaviside/) > [Euclid alone has looked on Beauty bare. Let all who prate of Beauty hold their peace, And lay them prone upon the earth and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/euclid-alone-has-looked-on-beauty-bare-let-all-who-prate-of-beauty-2/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [ As to writing another book on geometry \[to replace Euclid\] the middle ages would have as soon thought of composing another New Testament. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustus-de-morgan/as-to-writing-another-book-on-geometry-to-replace-euclid-the-middle/) [Augustus De Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustus-de-morgan/) > [The early study of Euclid made me a hater of geometry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joseph-sylvester/the-early-study-of-euclid-made-me-a-hater-of-geometry/) [James Joseph Sylvester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joseph-sylvester/) > [I would say, if you like, that the party is like an out-moded mathematics...that is to say, the mathematics of Euclid. We need to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-badiou/i-would-say-if-you-like-that-the-party-is-like-an-out-moded/) [Alain Badiou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-badiou/) > [“ Euclid 's Elements has been for nearly twenty-two centuries the encouragement and guide of that scientific thought which is one thing with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-kingdon-clifford/euclid-s-elements-has-been-for-nearly-twenty-two-centuries-the/) [William Kingdon Clifford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-kingdon-clifford/) > [ \[T\]he 47th proposition in Euclid might now be voted down with as much ease as any proposition in politics; and therefore if Lord Hawkesbury… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-smith/t-he-47th-proposition-in-euclid-might-now-be-voted-down-with-as-much/) [Sydney Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-smith/) > [Euclid alone has looked on Beauty bare. Let all who prate of Beauty hold their peace, And lay them prone upon the earth and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/euclid-alone-has-looked-on-beauty-bare-let-all-who-prate-of-beauty/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [The science of the church is neglected for the study of geometry, and they lose sight of Heaven while they are employed in measuring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-science-of-the-church-is-neglected-for-the-study-of-geometry-and/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [“Please give it up. Fear it no less than the sensual passion, because it, too, may take up all your time and deprive you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/farkas-bolyai/please-give-it-up-fear-it-no-less-than-the-sensual-passion-because-it/) [Farkas Bolyai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/farkas-bolyai/) > [Regular geometry, the geometry of Euclid, is concerned with shapes which are smooth, except perhaps for corners and lines, special lines which are singularities,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benoit-mandelbrot/regular-geometry-the-geometry-of-euclid-is-concerned-with-shapes/) [Benoit Mandelbrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benoit-mandelbrot/) > [“When one day Lagrange took out of his pocket a paper which he read at the Académe, and which contained a demonstration of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baptiste-biot/when-one-day-lagrange-took-out-of-his-pocket-a-paper-which-he-read-at/) Jean-Baptiste Biot ## 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 Euclid quotes > [“When one day Lagrange took out of his pocket a paper which he read at the Académe, and which contained a demonstration of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baptiste-biot/when-one-day-lagrange-took-out-of-his-pocket-a-paper-which-he-read-at/) Jean-Baptiste Biot > [Regular geometry, the geometry of Euclid, is concerned with shapes which are smooth, except perhaps for corners and lines, special lines which are singularities,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benoit-mandelbrot/regular-geometry-the-geometry-of-euclid-is-concerned-with-shapes/) [Benoit Mandelbrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benoit-mandelbrot/) > [“Please give it up. Fear it no less than the sensual passion, because it, too, may take up all your time and deprive you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/farkas-bolyai/please-give-it-up-fear-it-no-less-than-the-sensual-passion-because-it/) [Farkas Bolyai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/farkas-bolyai/) > [The science of the church is neglected for the study of geometry, and they lose sight of Heaven while they are employed in measuring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-science-of-the-church-is-neglected-for-the-study-of-geometry-and/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [Euclid alone has looked on Beauty bare. Let all who prate of Beauty hold their peace, And lay them prone upon the earth and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/euclid-alone-has-looked-on-beauty-bare-let-all-who-prate-of-beauty/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [ \[T\]he 47th proposition in Euclid might now be voted down with as much ease as any proposition in politics; and therefore if Lord Hawkesbury… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-smith/t-he-47th-proposition-in-euclid-might-now-be-voted-down-with-as-much/) [Sydney Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-smith/) > [“ Euclid 's Elements has been for nearly twenty-two centuries the encouragement and guide of that scientific thought which is one thing with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-kingdon-clifford/euclid-s-elements-has-been-for-nearly-twenty-two-centuries-the/) [William Kingdon Clifford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-kingdon-clifford/) > [I would say, if you like, that the party is like an out-moded mathematics...that is to say, the mathematics of Euclid. We need to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-badiou/i-would-say-if-you-like-that-the-party-is-like-an-out-moded/) [Alain Badiou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-badiou/) > [The early study of Euclid made me a hater of geometry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joseph-sylvester/the-early-study-of-euclid-made-me-a-hater-of-geometry/) [James Joseph Sylvester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joseph-sylvester/) > [ As to writing another book on geometry \[to replace Euclid\] the middle ages would have as soon thought of composing another New Testament. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustus-de-morgan/as-to-writing-another-book-on-geometry-to-replace-euclid-the-middle/) [Augustus De Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustus-de-morgan/) > [Euclid alone has looked on Beauty bare. Let all who prate of Beauty hold their peace, And lay them prone upon the earth and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/euclid-alone-has-looked-on-beauty-bare-let-all-who-prate-of-beauty-2/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [It is shocking that young people should be addling their brains over mere logical subtleties in Euclid's Elements, trying to understand the proof of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-heaviside/it-is-shocking-that-young-people-should-be-addling-their-brains-over/) [Oliver Heaviside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-heaviside/) > [“... I left Caen, where I was living, to go on a geological excursion under the auspices of the School of Mines. The incidents…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-poincare/i-left-caen-where-i-was-living-to-go-on-a-geological-excursion-under/) [Henri Poincaré](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-poincare/) > [The new painters do not propose, any more than did their predecessors, to be geometers. But it may be said that geometry is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillaume-apollinaire/the-new-painters-do-not-propose-any-more-than-did-their-predecessors/) [Guillaume Apollinaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillaume-apollinaire/) > [Euclid alone Has looked on Beauty bare. Fortunate they Who, though once only and then but far away, Have heard her massive sandal set…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/euclid-alone-has-looked-on-beauty-bare-fortunate-they-who-though-once/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) [Browse all 65 Euclid quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/euclid/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I have given up newspapers in exchange for Tacitus and Thucydides, for Newton and Euclid; and I find myself much the happier.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Jefferson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-have-given-up-newspapers-in-exchange-for-tacitus-and-thucydides-for/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Euclid" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-have-given-up-newspapers-in-exchange-for-tacitus-and-thucydides-for/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b1/thomas-jefferson-43_euclid_i-have-given-up-newspapers-in-exchange-f_149271.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b1/thomas-jefferson-43_euclid_i-have-given-up-newspapers-in-exchange-f_149271.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b1/thomas-jefferson-43_euclid_i-have-given-up-newspapers-in-exchange-f_149271.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I have given up newspapers in exchange for Tacitus and Thucydides, for Newton and Euclid; and I find myself…” — 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 have given up newspapers in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-have-given-up-newspapers-in-exchange-for-tacitus-and-thucydides-for/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-have-given-up-newspapers-in-exchange-for-tacitus-and-thucydides-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 } } ] } ```