Thomas Jefferson is by far the smartest president,” said Thomas Jefferson, about Thomas Jefferson, and to Thomas Jefferson. Even though he was only the third president, he might be surprised to learn that today. I...

We hold these truths to be self-evident.{Franklin’s edit to the assertion in Thomas Jefferson’s original wording, ‘We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable’ in a draft of the Declaration of Independence changes it...

But, Jefferson worried that the people – and the argument goes back to Thucydides and Aristotle – are easily misled. He also stressed, passionately and repeatedly, that it was essential for the people to understand...

The boldness of his mind was sheathed in a scabbard of politeness.

Tom Paine has almost no influence on present-day thinking in the United States because he is unknown to the average citizen. Perhaps I might say right here that this is a national loss and a...

Nevertheless, (Jefferson) believed that the habit of skepticism is an essential prerequisite for responsible citizenship. He argued that the cost of education is trivial compared to the cost of ignorance, of leaving government to the...

The religious issue was dragged out, and stirred up flames of hatred and intolerance. Clergymen, mobilizing their heaviest artillery of thunder and brimstone, threatened Christians with all manner of dire consequences if they should vote...

We inherited these principles and these freedoms and we here highly resolve that we shall pass them on, as we will pass on an undivided Republic purged of racism and slavery, to our descendants. The...

Learn to fish (income), share your fish (community service), teach others to fish (multiply yourself). Then find another sidestream, with different fish (diversify income). And before THAT sidestream dries up, plant a garden (manage risk),...

We know of no spectacle more ridiculous—or more contemptible—than that of the religious reactionaries who dare to re-write the history of our republic. Or who try to do so. Is it possible that, in their...

I am bold to Say that neither you nor I, will live to See the Course which ‘the Wonders of the Times’ will take. Many Years, and perhaps Centuries must pass, before the current will...

Without Thomas Jefferson and his Declaration of Independence, there would have been no American revolution that announced universal principles of liberty. Without his participation by the side of the unforgettable Marquis de Lafayette, there would...

This society [Jesuits] has been a greater calamity to mankind than the French Revolution, or Napoleon’s despotism or ideology. It has obstructed the progress of reformation and the improvement of the human mind in society...

Jefferson also founded the first intentionally secularized university in America. His vision for the University of Virginia was for education finally free from traditional Christian dogma. He had a disdain for the influence that institutional...

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

The last time I saw love was in my imagination while reading a book on Thomas Jefferson. Isn’t the Constitution of the United States so romantic?

How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy!

Had I realized while on Earth,” he said, “that Hell was such a delightful place, I should have put more faith in the teachings of religion. As it was, I actually doubted its existence. A...

Those who expect to be both ignorant and free, expect what never was and never will be.

From this we conclude, that, to live in harmony and peace…we must trace a line of distinction between those (assertions) that are capable of verification, and those that are not; (we must) separate by an...

I almost shudder at the thought of alluding to the most fatal example of the abuses of grief which the history of mankind has preserved – the Cross. Consider what calamities that engine of grief...

{When Abraham Lincoln was 26 years old in 1835, he wrote a defense of Thomas Paine’s deism; a political associate, Samuel Hill, burned it to save Lincoln’s political career. Historian Roy Basler, the editor of...

I haven’t eaten all day.” You see, Jefferson truly reflected early America at that time. He was hungry, and I think you’ll find that most successful people are.

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

Those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.