--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No society can make a perpetual…" description: "\"No society can make a perpetual constitution... The earth belongs always to the living generation.\" — Thomas Jefferson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/079/thomas-jefferson-43_animal_no-society-can-make-a-perpetual-constitu_146408.jpg" --- # No society can make a perpetual constitution... The earth… ![“No society can make a perpetual constitution... The earth belongs always to the living generation.” quote by Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/079/thomas-jefferson-43_animal_no-society-can-make-a-perpetual-constitu_146408.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/079/thomas-jefferson-43_animal_no-society-can-make-a-perpetual-constitu_146408.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/079/thomas-jefferson-43_animal_no-society-can-make-a-perpetual-constitu_146408.jpg) > “No society can make a perpetual constitution... The earth belongs always to the living generation.” [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. Constitutions must evolve; each generation inherits a living document. **In simple terms:** Laws change with each generation. Key Takeaway Support adaptable governance. Themes law generations change Mood thoughtful reflective Type philosophical political When to use this quote - political reform - civic engagement - historical analysis Key Concepts constitutional law social progress Questions to Reflect On - How should societies balance tradition and innovation? - Who decides when change is needed? A Different Perspective Change can be contentious. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Constitution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constitution/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generations/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) ## Related quotes > [The reduction of the earth to an object simply for human's use/ possession is unthinkable in most traditional cultures... the earth belongs to itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-berry/the-reduction-of-the-earth-to-an-object-simply-for-human-s-use/) [Thomas Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-berry/) > [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/) > [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/) > [I am increasingly persuaded that the earth belongs exclusively to the living and that one generation has no more right to bind another to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-am-increasingly-persuaded-that-the-earth-belongs-exclusively-to-the/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“No past experience, however rich, and no historical research, however thorough, can save the living generation the creative task of finding their own answers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gerschenkron/no-past-experience-however-rich-and-no-historical-research-however/) Alexander Gerschenkron > [Why should we grope among the dry bones of the past, or put the living generation into masquerade out of its faded wardrobe?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/why-should-we-grope-among-the-dry-bones-of-the-past-or-put-the-living/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“It is the present living generation that gives character and spirit to the next. 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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. 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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 Animal quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. 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He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I'm 38 and I'm single, and I'm having my most intense and gratifying relationship with a dog. 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