"Self-denial is indispensable to a strong character, and the highest kind comes from a religious stock."

Parker, Theodore on self-denial   

"Only Christ could have conceived Christ."

Parker, Joseph on jesus christ
3 fans of this quote   

"Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear."

Jefferson, Thomas on questions
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"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

Jefferson, Thomas on vigilance
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"How much pain worries have cost us that have never happened?"

Jefferson, Thomas on worry
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"A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high virtues of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation."

Jefferson, Thomas on citizenship   

"If there be one principle more deeply rooted than any other in the mind of every American, it is that we should have nothing to do with conquest."

Jefferson, Thomas on conquest
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"Believing that the happiness of mankind is best promoted by the useful pursuits of peace, that on these alone a stable prosperity can be founded, that the evils of war are great in their endurance, and have a long reckoning for ages to come, I have used my best endeavors to keep our country uncommitted in the troubles which afflict Europe, and which assail us on every side. "

Jefferson, Thomas on uncategorised   

"We are endeavoring, too, to reduce the government to the practice of a rigorous economy, to avoid burdening the people, and arming the magistrate with a patronage of money, which might be used to corrupt and undermine the principles of our government. "

Jefferson, Thomas on uncategorised   

"If, in my retirement to the humble station of a private citizen, I am accompanied with the esteem and approbation of my fellow citizens, trophies obtained by the bloodstained steel, or the tattered flags of the tented field, will never be envied. The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government. "

Jefferson, Thomas on uncategorised
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"I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."

Jefferson, Thomas on tyranny
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"Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God."

Jefferson, Thomas on tyranny
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"The man who fears no truth has nothing to fear from lies."

Jefferson, Thomas on truth
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"I hold it that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government."

Jefferson, Thomas on rebellion
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"Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed."

Jefferson, Thomas on resignation   

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure."

Jefferson, Thomas on evolution
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"Every citizen should be a soldier. This was the case with the Greeks and Romans, and must be that of every free state."

Jefferson, Thomas on soldier
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"We confide in our strength, without boasting of it; we respect that of others, without fearing it."

Jefferson, Thomas on strength
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"It is part of the American character to consider nothing as desperate -- to surmount every difficulty by resolution and contrivance."

Jefferson, Thomas on character   

"The glow of one warm thought is to me worth more than money."

Jefferson, Thomas on thoughts and thinking   

"Tranquility is the old man's milk."

Jefferson, Thomas on tranquility   

"If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretence of taking care of them, they must become happy. "

Jefferson, Thomas on uncategorised   

"I think our governments will remain virtuous for many centuries; as long as they are chiefly agricultural; and this will be as long as there shall be vacant lands in any part of America. When they get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, they will become corrupt as in Europe. "

Jefferson, Thomas on uncategorised   

"I have come to a resolution myself as I hope every good citizen will, never again to purchase any article of foreign manufacture which can be had of American make be the difference of price what it may. "

Jefferson, Thomas on uncategorised
4 fans of this quote   

"Were I to commence my administration again, the first question I would ask respecting a candidate would be, Does he use ardent spirits?"

Jefferson, Thomas on uncategorised   

"In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution. "

Jefferson, Thomas on uncategorised   

"The constitution, on this hypothesis, is a mere thing of wax in the hands of the judiciary, which they may twist and shape into any form they please. "

Jefferson, Thomas on uncategorised
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"Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independant, the most virtuous, and they are tied to their country and wedded to its liberty and interests by the most lasting bands. As long therefore as they can find emploiment in this line, I would not convert them into mariners, artisans, or any thing else. But our citizens will find emploiment in this line till their numbers, and of course their productions, become too great for the demand both internal and foreign. "

Jefferson, Thomas on uncategorised   

"You have not been mistaken in supposing my views and feeling to be in favor of the abolition of war. Of my dispos[i]tion to maintain peace until its condition shall be made less tolerable than that of war itself, the world has had proofs, and more, perhaps, than it has approved. I hope it is practicable, by improving the mind and morals of society, to lessen the dispos[i]tion to war; but of its abolition I despair. "

Jefferson, Thomas on uncategorised   

"I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and Constitutions. But laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors. "

Jefferson, Thomas on uncategorised
4 fans of this quote   

"I thought the work would be very innocent, and one which might be confided to the reason of any man; not likely to be much read if let alone, but, if persecuted, it will be generally read. Every man in the United States will think it a duty to buy a copy, in vindication of his right to buy, and to read what he pleases. "

Jefferson, Thomas on uncategorised   

"But every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all republicanswe are federalists. "

Jefferson, Thomas on uncategorised   

"The maxim of buying nothing without the money in our pocket to pay for it, would make of our country one of the happiest upon earth. Experience during the war proved this; as I think every man will remember that under all the privations it obliged him to submit to during that period he slept sounder, and awaked happier than he can do now. Desperate of finding relief from a free course of justice, I look forward to the abolition of all credit as the only other remedy which can take place. "

Jefferson, Thomas on uncategorised   

"I wish it were possible to obtain a single amendment to our constitution. I would be willing to depend on that alone for the reduction of the administration of our government to the genuine principles of its constitution; I mean an additional article, taking from the federal government the power of borrowing. "

Jefferson, Thomas on uncategorised
3 fans of this quote   

"To preserve the freedom of the human mind and freedom of the press, every spirit should be ready to devote itself to martyrdom; for as long as we may think as we will, and speak as we think the condition of man will proceed in improvement. The generation which is going off the stage has deserved well of mankind for the struggles it has made, and for having arrested the course of despotism which had overwhelmed the world for thousands and thousands of years. If there seems to be danger that the ground they have gained will be lost again, that danger comes from the generation your contemporary. But that the enthusiasm which characterizes youth should lift its parricide hands against freedom and science would be such a monstrous phenomenon as I cannot place among possible things in this age and country. "

Jefferson, Thomas on uncategorised   

"Almighty God hath created the mind free. All attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens are a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship or ministry or shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief, but all men shall be free to profess and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion. 1 I know but one code of morality for men whether acting singly or collectively. 2"

Jefferson, Thomas on uncategorised   

"It is, therefore, with the sincerest pleasure I have observed on the part of the British government various manifestations of a just and friendly disposition towards us; we wish to cultivate peace and friendship with all nations, believing that course most conducive to the welfare of our own; it is natural that these friendships should bear some proportion to the common interests of the parties. "

Jefferson, Thomas on uncategorised   

"The desire to preserve our country from the calamities and ravages of war, by cultivating a disposition, and pursuing a conduct, conciliatory and friendly to all nations, has been sincerely entertained and faithfully followed. It was dictated by the principles of humanity, the precepts of the gospel, and the general wish of our country, and it was not to be doubted that the Society of Friends, with whom it is a religious principle, would sanction it by their support. "

Jefferson, Thomas on uncategorised   

"Here was buriedThomas Jeffersonauthorof the Declaration ofAmerican Independenceofthe Statute of Virginiafor Religious Freedom, andFather of the Universityof Virginia"

Jefferson, Thomas on uncategorised   

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men. We solemnly publish and declare, that these colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent states and for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honour. "

Jefferson, Thomas on uncategorised