--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Let us save what remains: not by vaults…" description: "\"“Let us save what remains: not by vaults and locks which fence them from the public eye and use in consigning them to the waste of time, but by such a ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/thomas-jefferson-43_accidents_let-us-save-what-remains-not-by-vaults-a_2494241.jpg" --- # Let us save what remains: not by vaults and locks which… ![“Let us save what remains: not by vaults and locks which fence them from the public eye and use in consigning them to the waste of time, but by such a multiplication of copies, as shall place them beyond the reach of accident.” quote by Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/thomas-jefferson-43_accidents_let-us-save-what-remains-not-by-vaults-a_2494241.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/thomas-jefferson-43_accidents_let-us-save-what-remains-not-by-vaults-a_2494241.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/thomas-jefferson-43_accidents_let-us-save-what-remains-not-by-vaults-a_2494241.jpg) > ““Let us save what remains: not by vaults and locks which fence them from the public eye and use in consigning them to the waste of time, but by such a multiplication of copies, as shall place them beyond the reach of accident.”” [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. Preserving knowledge through widespread copying protects it from loss and decay **In simple terms:** Copying spreads and protects knowledge Key Takeaway Copy and share to safeguard ideas Themes preservation knowledge access Mood thoughtful protective Type philosophical practical When to use this quote - libraries - digital archives - education - historical research Key Concepts information theory redundancy Questions to Reflect On - How can we ensure copies remain accurate? - What modern methods replace vaults? A Different Perspective Copying alone cannot prevent misuse or distortion ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accidents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accidents/) [Archives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/archives/) [Copies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/copies/) [Copies Shall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/copies-shall-996581/) [Disasters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disasters/) [Documents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/documents/) [Eye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eye/) [Fence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fence/) [Heritage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heritage/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Libraries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/libraries/) [Locks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/locks/) [Multiplication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/multiplication/) [Preservation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preservation/) [Public eye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public-eye/) [Records](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/records/) [Remains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remains/) [Remains Vaults](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remains-vaults-996578/) [Save Remains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/save-remains-996579/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use/) [Value](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/value/) [Vaults](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vaults/) [Vaults Locks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vaults-locks-996580/) [Waste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waste/) [Waste of time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waste-of-time/) [Wasting time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wasting-time/) ## Related quotes > [The multiplication of public offices, increase of expense beyond income, growth and entailment of a public debt are indications soliciting the employment of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-multiplication-of-public-offices-increase-of-expense-beyond/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The monopoly of a single bank is certainly an evil. The multiplication of them was intended to cure it; but it multiplied an influence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-monopoly-of-a-single-bank-is-certainly-an-evil-the-multiplication/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [I am for a government rigorously frugal & simple, applying all the possible savings of the public revenue to the discharge of the national…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-am-for-a-government-rigorously-frugal-simple-applying-all-the/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The world, and whatever that be which we call the heavens, by the vault of which all things are enclosed, we must conceive to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-elder/the-world-and-whatever-that-be-which-we-call-the-heavens-by-the-vault/) [Pliny the Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-elder/) > [For a long time, I would write without music, because I thought it was distracting until I appreciated that it actually unlocks a certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hodgman/for-a-long-time-i-would-write-without-music-because-i-thought-it-was/) [John Hodgman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hodgman/) > [Don't pole-vault over mouse turds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/don-t-pole-vault-over-mouse-turds/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [A good 80 percent of the vault is still physical and another percentage of it, 20, 25 percent is mental. Mental is always the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bela-karolyi/a-good-80-percent-of-the-vault-is-still-physical-and-another/) [Bela Karolyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bela-karolyi/) > [In a moment, we hope to see the pole vault over the satellite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-coleman/in-a-moment-we-hope-to-see-the-pole-vault-over-the-satellite/) [David Coleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-coleman/) > [My wife has them all in a vault... a copy of every album.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-goldsmith/my-wife-has-them-all-in-a-vault-a-copy-of-every-album/) [Jerry Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-goldsmith/) > [I taught myself how to pole vault in one day. The next day I entered a meet to pole vault and won it all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bo-jackson/i-taught-myself-how-to-pole-vault-in-one-day-the-next-day-i-entered-a/) [Bo Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bo-jackson/) > [Our respect for the dead, when they are just dead, is something wonderful, and the way we show it more wonderful still. We show…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/our-respect-for-the-dead-when-they-are-just-dead-is-something/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [Mars tugs at the human imagination like no other planet. With a force mightier than gravity, it attracts the eye to its shimmering red…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-noble-wilford/mars-tugs-at-the-human-imagination-like-no-other-planet-with-a-force/) [John Noble Wilford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-noble-wilford/) > [Ignorance seldom vaults into knowledge...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/ignorance-seldom-vaults-into-knowledge/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [ p.61 He \[Roark\] was usually disliked, from the first sight of his face, anywhere he went. His face was closed like the door of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/p-61-he-roark-was-usually-disliked-from-the-first-sight-of-his-face/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [It is moonlight. Alone in the silence I ascend my stairs once more, While waves remote in pale blue starlight Crash on a white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/it-is-moonlight-alone-in-the-silence-i-ascend-my-stairs-once-more/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) ## 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 Accidents quotes > [Almost all accidents take place because of human distraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-thrun/almost-all-accidents-take-place-because-of-human-distraction/) [Sebastian Thrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-thrun/) > [It was no accident, no coincidence, that the seasons came round and round year after year. It was the Lord speaking to us all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-rivers/it-was-no-accident-no-coincidence-that-the-seasons-came-round-and/) [Francine Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-rivers/) > [No, I think most astronauts recognize that the space shuttle program is very high-risk, and are prepared for accidents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-ride/no-i-think-most-astronauts-recognize-that-the-space-shuttle-program/) [Sally Ride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-ride/) > [In presenting a mathematical argument the great thing is to give the educated reader the chance to catch on at once to the momentary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edensor-littlewood/in-presenting-a-mathematical-argument-the-great-thing-is-to-give-the/) [John Edensor Littlewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edensor-littlewood/) > [The only way to have a funeral is to invite everyone who ever knew the person and just wait for the accident to happen-somebody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/the-only-way-to-have-a-funeral-is-to-invite-everyone-who-ever-knew/) [Philip Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-roth/) > [Good films are not made by accident, nor is good photography. You can have good things happen, on occasion, by accident that can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-willis/good-films-are-not-made-by-accident-nor-is-good-photography-you-can/) [Gordon Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-willis/) > [By education I am an Englishman, by views an internationalist, by culture a Muslim and a Hindu only by accident of birth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jawaharlal-nehru/by-education-i-am-an-englishman-by-views-an-internationalist-by/) [Jawaharlal Nehru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jawaharlal-nehru/) > [I made out with a homeless guy by accident. I had no idea -- he was really tan, he had no shoes on. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-schumer/i-made-out-with-a-homeless-guy-by-accident-i-had-no-idea-he-was/) [Amy Schumer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-schumer/) > [Naturally I feel no shame in writing these things because of the time which separates the moment when they are written--when only I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-ernaux/naturally-i-feel-no-shame-in-writing-these-things-because-of-the-time/) [Annie Ernaux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-ernaux/) > [In a city where you walk around, it's impossible to plan your day and your life as accidents will happen, you'll overhear things, bump…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-schwartzman/in-a-city-where-you-walk-around-it-s-impossible-to-plan-your-day-and/) [Jason Schwartzman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-schwartzman/) > [I don't think it's by accident that I was first attracted to translating two French women poets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-hacker/i-don-t-think-it-s-by-accident-that-i-was-first-attracted-to/) [Marilyn Hacker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-hacker/) > [Despite my mentors advice that I would never go to heaven fishing with a weighted nymph and a float, I took it up. (As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-bishop/despite-my-mentors-advice-that-i-would-never-go-to-heaven-fishing/) [Tony Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-bishop/) > [Dont stand outside in a lightning shower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padraig/dont-stand-outside-in-a-lightning-shower/) [Padraig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padraig/) > [In the eyes of those lovers of perfection, a work is never finished a word that for them has no sense but abandoned; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/in-the-eyes-of-those-lovers-of-perfection-a-work-is-never-finished-a/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [My musical career was an accident.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sade-adu/my-musical-career-was-an-accident/) [Sade Adu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sade-adu/) [Browse all 1,971 Accidents quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accidents/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Let us save what remains: not by vaults and locks which fence them from the public eye and use in consigning them to the waste of time, but by such a multiplication of copies, as shall place them beyond the reach of accident.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Jefferson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/let-us-save-what-remains-not-by-vaults-and-locks-which-fence-them/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Accidents" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/let-us-save-what-remains-not-by-vaults-and-locks-which-fence-them/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/thomas-jefferson-43_accidents_let-us-save-what-remains-not-by-vaults-a_2494241.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/thomas-jefferson-43_accidents_let-us-save-what-remains-not-by-vaults-a_2494241.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/thomas-jefferson-43_accidents_let-us-save-what-remains-not-by-vaults-a_2494241.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Let us save what remains: not by vaults and locks which fence them from the public eye and use in consigning…” — 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": "“Let us save what remains: not...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/let-us-save-what-remains-not-by-vaults-and-locks-which-fence-them/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/let-us-save-what-remains-not-by-vaults-and-locks-which-fence-them/#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 } } ] } ```