--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In every country and every age, the…" description: "\"In every country and every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for pro..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9e/thomas-jefferson-43_abuse_in-every-country-and-every-age-the-pries_2028799.jpg" --- # In every country and every age, the priest has been… ![“In every country and every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own. It is easier to acquire wealth and power by this combination than by deserving them, and to effect this, they have perverted…” quote by Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9e/thomas-jefferson-43_abuse_in-every-country-and-every-age-the-pries_2028799.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9e/thomas-jefferson-43_abuse_in-every-country-and-every-age-the-pries_2028799.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9e/thomas-jefferson-43_abuse_in-every-country-and-every-age-the-pries_2028799.jpg) > “In every country and every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own. It is easier to acquire wealth and power by this combination than by deserving them, and to effect this, they have perverted the purest religion ever preached to man into mystery and jargon, unintelligible to all mankind, and therefore the safer for their purposes.” [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. Clergy often align with authoritarian rulers, sacrificing liberty for personal gain and obscuring true faith with complex doctrine. **In simple terms:** Priests side with tyrants, corrupting religion for power. Key Takeaway Beware of religious authority that protects oppression. Themes religion politics power liberty Mood critical thoughtful Type political philosophical When to use this quote - political analysis - religious reform - civil rights activism Key Concepts theocracy corruption manipulation Questions to Reflect On - How does religious authority affect freedom? - What can individuals do to protect liberty? A Different Perspective Religious institutions can also promote social justice, not just oppression. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abuse/) [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Alliances](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alliances/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Despots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despots/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Jargon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jargon/) [Liberty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberty/) [Mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mankind/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mystery/) [President](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/president/) [Priest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/priest/) [Priests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/priests/) [Protection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/protection/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) [Wealth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wealth/) ## Related quotes > [In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/in-every-country-and-in-every-age-the-priest-has-been-hostile-to-3/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [In every country and every age, the priest had been hostile to Liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/in-every-country-and-every-age-the-priest-had-been-hostile-to-liberty/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/in-every-country-and-in-every-age-the-priest-has-been-hostile-to-2/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [In every country and in every age the priest has been hostile to liberty; he is always in allegiance to the despot, abetting his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/in-every-country-and-in-every-age-the-priest-has-been-hostile-to/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“A nanny state is hostile to liberty. Any attempt to institute or continue it should be opposed, root and branch. Government intervention is never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-m-vance/a-nanny-state-is-hostile-to-liberty-any-attempt-to-institute-or/) Laurence M. Vance > [Having federal officials, whether judges, bureaucrats, or congressmen, impose a new definition of marriage on the people is an act of social engineering profoundly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-paul/having-federal-officials-whether-judges-bureaucrats-or-congressmen/) [Ron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-paul/) > [It is the old practice of despots to use a part of the people to keep the rest in order.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/it-is-the-old-practice-of-despots-to-use-a-part-of-the-people-to-keep/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The constitution has erected no such single tribunal, knowing that to whatever hands confided, with the corruption's of time and party, its members would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-constitution-has-erected-no-such-single-tribunal-knowing-that-to/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [ While wading through the whimsies, the puerilities, and unintelligible jargon of this work \[Plato's Republic\], I laid it down often to ask myself how… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/while-wading-through-the-whimsies-the-puerilities-and-unintelligible/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The attempt of Lavoisier to reform chemical nomenclature is premature. One single experiment may destroy the whole filiation of his terms; and his string…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-attempt-of-lavoisier-to-reform-chemical-nomenclature-is-premature/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Well, Page, I do wish the Devil had old Cooke, for I am sure I never was so tired of an old dull scoundrel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/well-page-i-do-wish-the-devil-had-old-cooke-for-i-am-sure-i-never-was/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [There are three kinds of despots. There is the despot who tyrannizes over the body. There is the despot who tyrannizes over the soul.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/there-are-three-kinds-of-despots-there-is-the-despot-who-tyrannizes/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [All ideas advanced to deal with the Florentine noise problem, the Florentine traffic problem, are Utopian, and nobody believes in them, just as nobody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/all-ideas-advanced-to-deal-with-the-florentine-noise-problem-the/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [If Despotism failed only for want of a capable benevolent despot, what chance has Democracy, which requires a whole population of capable voters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/if-despotism-failed-only-for-want-of-a-capable-benevolent-despot-what/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [At a distance, we cannot conceive of the authority of a despot who knows all his subjects on sight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/at-a-distance-we-cannot-conceive-of-the-authority-of-a-despot-who/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) ## 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... 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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 Abuse quotes > [I wrote when I was a young teen, but I didn't put an eye on the available markets until I was seventeen. 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