--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It must be observed that our revenues are…" description: "\"It must be observed that our revenues are raised almost wholly on imported goods.\" — Thomas Jefferson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b8/thomas-jefferson-43_goods_it-must-be-observed-that-our-revenues-ar_2607258.jpg" --- # It must be observed that our revenues are raised almost… ![“It must be observed that our revenues are raised almost wholly on imported goods.” quote by Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b8/thomas-jefferson-43_goods_it-must-be-observed-that-our-revenues-ar_2607258.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b8/thomas-jefferson-43_goods_it-must-be-observed-that-our-revenues-ar_2607258.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b8/thomas-jefferson-43_goods_it-must-be-observed-that-our-revenues-ar_2607258.jpg) > “It must be observed that our revenues are raised almost wholly on imported goods.” [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. Revenue dependence on imports makes a nation vulnerable to external economic shifts. **In simple terms:** Relying on imported goods risks economic stability. Key Takeaway Diversify domestic production. Themes economics policy trade Mood cautious strategic Type analytical prescriptive When to use this quote - budget planning - legislative reform - trade negotiations Key Concepts import reliance industrial policy taxation economic independence Questions to Reflect On - How can we reduce import dependence? - What incentives boost local manufacturing? A Different Perspective Domestic production may be costly and slow. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Revenues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revenues/) [Taxation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taxation/) ## Related quotes > [I am baffled by many Western politicians who continually blame low-cost imported goods for their own economic challenges.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinesh-paliwal/i-am-baffled-by-many-western-politicians-who-continually-blame-low/) [Dinesh Paliwal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinesh-paliwal/) > [“Since the total amount of imported goods flowing onto our shores is over a Trillion dollars, we can understand why the world will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-price/since-the-total-amount-of-imported-goods-flowing-onto-our-shores-is/) [John Price](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-price/) > [To lay taxes to provide for the general welfare of the United States, that is to say, 'to lay taxes for the purpose of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/to-lay-taxes-to-provide-for-the-general-welfare-of-the-united-states/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The fore horse of this frightful team is public debt. Taxation follow that, and in its turn wretchedness and oppression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-fore-horse-of-this-frightful-team-is-public-debt-taxation-follow/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Excessive taxation . . . will carry reason & reflection to every man's door, and particularly in the hour of election.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/excessive-taxation-will-carry-reason-reflection-to-every-man-s-door/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [... legislators cannot invent too many devices for subdividing property... Another means of silently lessening the inequality of property is to exempt all from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/legislators-cannot-invent-too-many-devices-for-subdividing-property/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Would it not be better to simplify the system of taxation rather than to spread it over such a variety of subjects and pass…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/would-it-not-be-better-to-simplify-the-system-of-taxation-rather-than/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The tax which will be paid for the purpose of education is not more than the thousandth part of what will be paid to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-tax-which-will-be-paid-for-the-purpose-of-education-is-not-more/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Still less, let it be proposed that our properties within our own territories shall be taxed or regulated by any power on earth but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/still-less-let-it-be-proposed-that-our-properties-within-our-own/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Taxes should be proportioned to what may be annually spared by the individual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/taxes-should-be-proportioned-to-what-may-be-annually-spared-by-the/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Taxes should be continued by annual or biennial reeactments, because a constant hold, by the nation, of the strings of the public purse is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/taxes-should-be-continued-by-annual-or-biennial-reeactments-because-a/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [ Many of the opposition \[to the new Federal Constitution\] wish to take from Congress the power of internal taxation. Calculation has convinced me that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/many-of-the-opposition-to-the-new-federal-constitution-wish-to-take/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Taxation is, in fact, the most difficult function of government and that against which their citizens are most apt to be refractory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/taxation-is-in-fact-the-most-difficult-function-of-government-and/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Still less let it be proposed that our properties within our own territories shall be taxed or regulated by any power on earth but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/still-less-let-it-be-proposed-that-our-properties-within-our-own-2/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [When you already have $150 billion a year in revenues from the iPhone, it's very hard to come up with any new vertical that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/when-you-already-have-150-billion-a-year-in-revenues-from-the-iphone/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) ## 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 Goods quotes > [Humanitarian goods and people must flow in both directions. Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cameron/humanitarian-goods-and-people-must-flow-in-both-directions-gaza/) [David Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cameron/) > [One of the Internet's highest-profile companies, Priceline once dreamed of transforming the way consumer goods are bought and sold by offering customers the chance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-berenson/one-of-the-internet-s-highest-profile-companies-priceline-once/) [Alex Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-berenson/) > [“The odds may be good, but the goods may be odd.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerusha-jones/the-odds-may-be-good-but-the-goods-may-be-odd/) Jerusha Jones > [This is not really currency that circulates. It's like the old joke about expensive vintage wine. Wine prices will go up and once in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hudson/this-is-not-really-currency-that-circulates-it-s-like-the-old-joke/) [Michael Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hudson/) > [My illness is one often characterized by dramatic overspending - in my case through frenzied shopping sprees, credit card abuse, excessive hoarding of unnecessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-behrman/my-illness-is-one-often-characterized-by-dramatic-overspending-in-my/) [Andy Behrman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-behrman/) > [I haven't talked to any young artists for a long time. But if we did sit down, I'd definitely tell them my viewpoint. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzi-quatro/i-haven-t-talked-to-any-young-artists-for-a-long-time-but-if-we-did/) [Suzi Quatro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzi-quatro/) > [Now that I'm more middle class, I have access to consumer goods. I do enjoy feminine frippery, feminine doo-da, stuff like that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/now-that-i-m-more-middle-class-i-have-access-to-consumer-goods-i-do/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [The US has developed two coordinate governing classes: the one, called 'business,' building cities, manufacturing and distributing goods, and holding complete and autocratic power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurman-arnold/the-us-has-developed-two-coordinate-governing-classes-the-one-called/) [Thurman Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurman-arnold/) > [In reality no food is valued solely for its nutritive power and no garment or house solely for the protection it affords against cold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/in-reality-no-food-is-valued-solely-for-its-nutritive-power-and-no/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [Rich widows are the only second-hand goods that sell at prime cost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/rich-widows-are-the-only-second-hand-goods-that-sell-at-prime-cost/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [...Individualistic material progress and the desire to gain prestige by coming out on top have taken over from the sense of fellowship, compassion and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-vanier/individualistic-material-progress-and-the-desire-to-gain-prestige-by/) [Jean Vanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-vanier/) > [The whole idea of the pursuit of goods and possessions has completely corrupted the human experience, along with religion, which I think limits the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/the-whole-idea-of-the-pursuit-of-goods-and-possessions-has-completely/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [Barge traffic on the Mississippi River represents the most efficient, most cost-effective, most environmentally sound means of transporting commodity goods from this region of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-boswell/barge-traffic-on-the-mississippi-river-represents-the-most-efficient/) [Leonard Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-boswell/) > [The End is included among goods of the soul, and not among external goods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-end-is-included-among-goods-of-the-soul-and-not-among-external/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [It's a topsy-turvy world in which a country can import the same amount of ice-cream, toilet paper and other goods to trading partners as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-simms/it-s-a-topsy-turvy-world-in-which-a-country-can-import-the-same/) [Andrew Simms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-simms/) Browse all 1,114 Goods quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It must be observed that our revenues are raised 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