Quotes by Thomas Jefferson

“No body wishes more than I do to see such proofs as you exhibit, that nature has given to our black brethren, talents equal to those of the other colors of men, and that the appearance of a want of...”

“I had rather be shut up in a very modest cottage with my books, my family and a few old friends, dining on simple bacon, and letting the world roll on as it liked, than to occupy the most splendid ...”

“Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of Liberty.”

“The most fortunate of us, in our journey through life, frequently meet with calamities and misfortunes which may greatly afflict us; and, to fortify our minds against the attacks of these calamitie...”

“The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor ...”

“There is nothing more unequal than the equal treatment of unequal people.”

“May it [American independence] be to the world, what I believe it will be, (to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all,) the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which mo...”

“Prayer is based on the remote possibility that someone is actually listening; but so is a lot of conversation. If the former seems far-fetched, consider the latter: even if someone is listening to ...”

“Plato offers the amazing idea that contemplation of the way things really are is, in itself, a purifying process that can bring human beings into the only divinity there is.”

“But friendship is precious, not only in the shade but in the sunshine of life; & thanks to a benevolent arrangement of things, the greater part of life is sunshine. I will recur for proof to the da...”

“Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations...entangling alliances with none”

“I find friendship to be like wine, raw when new, ripened with age, the true old man's milk and restorative cordial.”

“All should be laid open to you without reserve, for there is not a truth existing which I fear, or would wish unknown to the whole world.”

“I was bold in the pursuit of knowledge, never fearing to follow truth and reason to whatever results they led.”

“It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.”

“Whatever enables us to go to war, secures our peace”

“And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.”

“Honesty is the first chapter of the book wisdom.”

“I predict future happiness for Americans, if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.”

“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.”