Conquest is not in our principles; it is inconsistent with our government

The tax which will be paid for the purpose of education is not more than the thousandth part of what will be paid to kings, priests and nobles who will rise up among us if...

Above all things I hope the education of the common people will be attended to, convinced that on their good sense we may rely with the most security for the preservation of a due degree...

Power is not alluring to pure minds

I’m a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it

The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.

Nature intended me for the tranquil pursuits of science, by rendering them my supreme delight. But the enormities of the times in which I have lived, have forced me to take a part in resisting...

If once the people become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, Judges and Governors, shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature, in...

It be urged that the wild and uncultivated tree, hitherto yielding sour and bitter fruit only, can never be made to yield better; yet we know that the grafting art implants a new tree on...

The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive.

Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching.

Resort is had to ridicule only when reason is against us.

Only aim to do your duty, and mankind will give you credit where you fail.

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 patronage of money, which might be used to corrupt and...

“History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves...

Honor, justice, and humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us

I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.

I have no ambition to govern men. It is a painful and thankless office

Reading, reflection and time have convinced me that the interests of society require the observation of those moral precepts only in which all religions agree (for all forbid us to steal, murder, plunder, or bear...

That peace, safety, and concord may be the portion of our native land, and be long enjoyed by our fellow-citizens, is the most ardent wish of my heart, and if I can be instrumental in...

Politics are such a torment that I would advise every one I love not to mix with them.

We confide in our strength, without boasting of it, we respect that of others, without fearing it.

‎We must make our choice between economy and liberty or confusion and servitude…If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and comforts, in our labor...

Difference of opinion is advantageous in religion. The several sects perform the office of a Censor morum over each other. Is uniformity attainable? Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity,...

Never spend your money before you have earned it.

He who knows nothing is closer to the truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors.

That government is the strongest of which every man feels himself a part.

It is in our lives and not our words that our religion must be read.

I consider him [Alexander von Humboldt] the most important scientist whom I have met.

When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.

Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.

A nation as a society forms a moral person, and every member of it is personally responsible for his society

Let common sense and common honesty have fair play, and they will soon set things to rights.

Freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus; and trial by juries impartially selected, – these principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us

Tranquility is the old man’s milk

I have but one system of ethics for men and for nations – to be grateful, to be faithful to all engagements under all circumstances, to be open and generous, promoting in the long run...

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...

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

…We are all Federalists,and we are all Republicans.

…it is not to be understood that I am with him [Jesus] in all his doctrines. I am a Materialist, he takes the side of spiritualism; he preaches the efficacy of repentance toward forgiveness of...

Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia.[Epitaph, upon his instructions to erect a ‘a plain...

I sincerely believe… that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies.

When a man assumes a public trust he should consider himself a public property.

Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy, and I wish we may be permitted to pursue it.

Always take hold of things by the smooth handle.

Whenever you are to do a thing, though it can never be known but to yourself, ask yourself how you would act were all the world looking at you, and act accordingly.

I had laid it down as a law for my conduct while in office, and hitherto scrupulously observed, to accept of no present beyond a book, a pamphlet, or other curiosity of minor value; as...

Laws are made for men of ordinary understanding and should, therefore, be construed by the ordinary rules of common sense. Their meaning is not to be sought for in metaphysical subtleties which may make anything...

One single object…[will merit] the endless gratitude of the society: that of restraining the judges from usurping legislation.

The truth is, that the greatest enemies of the doctrine of Jesus are those calling themselves the expositors of them, who have perverted them to the structure of a system of fancy absolutely incomprehensible, and...