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Thomas Jefferson Quotes – We can take a lot of inspiration from world-famous figures, such as politicians, scientists, artists, idols, and so on.
Some of us may be familiar with taking or picking something from a world figure who is seen by many as someone extraordinary, amazing, and inspiring.
One of them, Thomas Jefferson, was a political philosopher who vigorously supported the notion of liberal freedom, republicanism, and the separation between state and religion.
Thomas Jefferson was also the one who made the decentralization of government in the United States. Jefferson was a strong supporter of expansion westward.
In addition, Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States with a term from 1801 to 1809.
And was also the Originator of the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the founding father of the United States.
A lot of inspiration, which comes from the figure of Thomas Jefferson who inspires everyone will be shared in great and inspiring quotes.
Here, 200 Thomas Jefferson quotes that inspire and build for all of us.
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Inspirational Thomas Jefferson Quotes
1. “Perfect happiness, I believe, was never intended by the Deity to be the lot of one of his creatures in this world; but that he has very much put in our power the nearness of our approaches to it, is what I have steadfastly believed.”
2. “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 post, which any human power can give.”
3. “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.”
4. “Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add ‘within the limits of the law’ because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.”
5. “Books constitute capital. A library book lasts as long as a house, for hundreds of years. It is not, then, an article of mere consumption but fairly of capital, and often in the case of professional men, setting out in life, it is their only capital.”
6. “It is my rule never to take a side in any part in the quarrels of others, nor to inquire into them. I generally presume them to flow from the indulgence of too much passion on both sides, & always find that each party thinks all the wrong was in his adversary. These bickerings, which are always useless, embitter human life more than any other cause…”
7. “I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in anything else where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent.”
8. “The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.”
9. “Nobody is better than you and remember, you are better than nobody.”
10. “Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law.”
11. “The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.”
12. “But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life, and thanks to a benevolent arrangement the greater part of life is sunshine.”
13. “Every day is lost in which we do not learn something useful. Man has no nobler or more valuable possession than time.”
14. “Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time, who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done, if we are always doing.”
15. “Walking is the very best exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far.”
16. “There is nothing more unequal than the equal treatment of unequal people.”
17. “How much pain have cost us the evils which have never happened.”
18. “Advertisements… contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper.”
19. “Of all machines, the human heart is the most complicated and inexplicable.”
20. “Never spend your money before you have earned it.”
21. “In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.”
22. “Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far.”
23. “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; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
24. “No freeman shall be debarred the use of arms.”
25. “Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe.”
26. “I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.”
27. “Leave no authority existing not responsible to the people.”
28. “I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be.”
29. “Educate and inform the whole mass of the people… They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.”
30. “But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life, and thanks to a benevolent arrangement the greater part of life is sunshine.”
31. “The boisterous sea of liberty is never without a wave.”
32. “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever.”
33. “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”
34. “Every citizen should be a soldier. This was the case with the Greeks and Romans, and must be that of every free state.”
35. “I cannot live without books.”
36. “Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add ‘within the limits of the law’ because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.”
37. “The earth belongs to the living, not to the dead.”
38. “Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.”
39. “It takes time to persuade men to do even what is for their own good.”
40. “For a people who are free, and who mean to remain so, a well-organized and armed militia is their best security.”
41. “No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden.”
42. “I believe that every human mind feels pleasure in doing good to another.”
43. “The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.”
44. “One travels more usefully when alone, because he reflects more.”
45. “Commerce with all nations, alliance with none, should be our motto.”
46. “We confide in our strength, without boasting of it, we respect that of others, without fearing it.”
47. “The most successful war seldom pays for its losses.”
48. “Friendship is but another name for an alliance with the follies and the misfortunes of others. Our own share of miseries is sufficient: why enter then as volunteers into those of another?”
49. “My theory has always been, that if we are to dream, the flatteries of hope are as cheap, and pleasanter, than the gloom of despair.”
50. “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.”
51. “It is neither wealth nor splendor; but tranquility and occupation which give you happiness.”
52. “I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery.”
53. “I’m a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.”
54. “When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes a duty.”
55. “Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.”
56. “Freedom, the first-born of science.”
57. “He who knows best knows how little he knows.” -Thomas Jefferson
58. “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.”
59. “Never spend your money before you have it.”
60. “An enemy generally says and believes what he wishes.”
61. “Always take hold of things by the smooth handle.”
62. “When angry count to ten before you speak. If very angry, count to one hundred.”
63. “He who permits himself to tell a lie once finds it much easier to do it the second time.”
64. “Be polite to all, but intimate with few.”
65. “Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching.”
66. “I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.”
67. “Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe.”
70. “Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances.”
71. “But whether I retire to bed early or late, I rise with the sun.”
72. “The dead should not rule the living.”
73. “Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.”
74. “Honesty give your confident for entire life.”
75. “I’m a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.”
76. “One man with courage is a majority.”
77. “Take care of your cents: dollars will take care of themselves.”
78. “I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.”
79. “The art of life is the art of avoiding pain.”
80. “The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family.”
81. “He who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it the second time.”
82. “I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery.”
83. “When angry count to ten before you speak. If very angry, count to one hundred.”
84. “Never put off to tomorrow what you can do to-day.”
85. “Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.”
86. “Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.”
87. “Every day is lost in which we do not learn something useful. Man has no nobler or more valuable possession than time.”
88. “If you want something you’ve never had you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.”
89. “When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”
90. “Be polite to all, but intimate with few.”
91. “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.”
92. “How much pain they have cost us, the evils which have never happened.”
93. “Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation, and freedom in all just pursuits.”
94. “There is nothing more unequal than the equal treatment of unequal people.”
95. “I find friendship to be like wine, raw when new, ripened with age, the true old man’s milk and restorative cordial.”
96. “The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.”
97. “Never buy a thing you do not want, because it is cheap, it will be dear to you.”
98. “He who knows best knows how little he knows.”
99. “Truth is certainly a branch of morality and a very important one to society.”
100. “I am satisfied, and sufficiently occupied with the things which are, without tormenting or troubling myself about those which may indeed be, but of which I have no evidence.”
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101. “Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy, and I wish we may be permitted to pursue it.”
102. “Friendship is but another name for an alliance with the follies and the misfortunes of others. Our own share of miseries is sufficient. Why enter then as volunteers into those of another?”
Profound Thomas Jefferson Quotes
103. “War is an instrument entirely inefficient toward redressing wrongs, and multiplies, instead of indemnifying losses.”
104. “I never will, by any word or act, bow to the shrine of intolerance or admit a right of inquiry into the religious opinions of others.”
105. “Experience demands that man is the only animal which devours his own kind, for I can apply no milder term to the general prey of the rich on the poor.”
106. “As our enemies have found, we can reason like men, so now let us show them we can fight like men also.”
107. “When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public property.”
More Thomas Jefferson Quotes to Expand Your Mind
108. “But as it is, we have the wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him nor safely let him go. Justice is on one scale, and self-preservation on the other.”
109. “A machine for making revolutions is doing precisely the wrong thing at just the right time.”
110. “Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us dare to do our duty as we understand it.”
111. “I am satisfied and sufficiently occupied with the things which are, without tormenting or troubling myself about those which may indeed be, but of which I have no evidence.”
112. “Only aim to do your duty, and mankind will give you credit where you fail.”
113. “The earth belongs to the living, not to the dead.”
114. “When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”
115. “The art of life is the art of avoiding pain.”
116. “Power is not alluring to pure minds.”
117. “He who permits himself to tell a lie once finds it much easier to do it the second time.”
118. “Don’t talk about what you have done or what you are going to do.”
119. “A coward is much more exposed to quarrels than a man of spirit.”
120. “I believe that every human mind feels pleasure in doing good to another.”
121. “Be polite to all, but intimate with few.”
122. “One travels more usefully when alone because he reflects more.”
123. “Happiness is not being pained in body or troubled in mind.”
124. “Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.”
125. “There is nothing more unequal than the equal treatment of unequal people.”
126. “When angry, count to 10 before you speak. If very angry, count to 100.”
127. “Never put off to tomorrow what you can do today.”
128. “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.”
129. “It is always better to have no ideas than false ones. To believe nothing, than to believe what is wrong.”
130. “Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching.”
131. “Every human being must be viewed according to what it is good for. For not one of us, no, not one, is perfect. And were we to love none who had imperfection, this world would be a desert for our love.”
132. “In matters of style, swim with the current. In matters of principle, stand like a rock.”
133. “I’m a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.”
134. “Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.”
135. “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”
136. “Nothing is unchangeable but the inherent and unalienable rights of man.”
137. “Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation, and freedom in all just pursuits.”
138. “No freeman shall be debarred the use of arms.”
139. “Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add ‘within the limits of the law’ because the law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.”
140. “Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.”
141. “The boisterous sea of liberty is never without a wave.”
142. “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 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”
143. “In every country where man is free to think and to speak, the difference of opinion will arise from difference of perception, and the imperfection of reason, but these differences, when permitted, as in this happy country, to purify themselves by free discussion, are but as passing clouds overspreading our land transiently, and leaving our horizon more bright and serene.”
144. “Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government, that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights.”
145. “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.”
146. “It is error alone which needs the support of the government. Truth can stand by itself.”
147. “Experience hath shown that even under the best forms of government, those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.”
148. “Leave no authority existing not responsible to the people.”
149. “Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing.”
150. “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 blindfolded fear.”
151. “Leave all the afternoon for exercise and recreation, which are as necessary as reading. I will rather say more necessary because health is worth more than learning.”
152. “No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden.”
153. “We confide in our strength, without boasting of it, we respect that of others, without fearing it.”
154. “Money, not morality, is the principle commerce of civilized nations.”
155. “It is in our lives and not our words that our religion must be read.”
156. “It is neither wealth nor splendor, but tranquility and occupation which give you happiness.”
157. “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 them and to commit myself to the boisterous ocean of political passions.”
158. “How much pain they have cost us, the evils which have never happened.”
159. “The happiness of the domestic fireside is the first boon of heaven, and it is well it is so since it is that which is the lot of the mass of mankind.”
160. “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just. That His justice cannot sleep forever.”
161. “My theory has always been that if we are to dream, the flatteries of hope are as cheap and pleasanter than the gloom of despair.”
162. “There is not a truth existing which I fear or would wish unknown to the whole world.”
163. “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, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
164. “In truth, politeness is artificial good humor. It covers the natural want of it and ends by rendering habitual a substitute nearly equivalent to the real virtue.”
165. “Ignorance is preferable to error, and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing than he who believes what is wrong.”
166. “Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle.”
167. “He who knows nothing is closer to the truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors.”
168. “But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life, and thanks to a benevolent arrangement, the greater part of life is sunshine.”
169. “I find friendship to be like wine, raw when new, ripened with age, the true old man’s milk and restorative cordial.”
170. “When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.”
171. “our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.”
172. “If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.”
173. “Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.”
174. “It is the great parent of science and of virtue, and that a nation will be great in both, always in proportion as it is free.”
175. “I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery.”
176. “He who knows best knows how little he knows.”
177. “I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.”
178. “We must dream of an aristocracy of achievement arising out of a democracy of opportunity.”
179. “History, in general, only informs us what bad government is.”
180. “Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of the body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day.”
181. “I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”
182. “Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.”
183. “The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.”
184. “Every day is lost in which we do not learn something useful. Man has no nobler or more valuable possession than time.”
185. “I was bold in the pursuit of knowledge, never fearing to follow truth and reason to whatever results they led.”
186. “The opinions and beliefs of men follow involuntarily the evidence proposed to their minds.”
187. “I cannot live without books, but fewer will suffice where amusement, and not use, is the only future object.”
188. “Truth is certainly a branch of morality and a very important one to society.”
189. “Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances.”
190. “Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst, and cold.”
191. “The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.”
192. “One man with courage is a majority.”
193. “I find that he is happiest of whom the world says least, good or bad.”
194. “Our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions any more than our opinions in physics or geometry.”
195. “Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe.”
196. “The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.”
197. “Do not bite at the bait of pleasure till you know there is no hook beneath it.”
198. “I hope our wisdom will grow with our power and teach us that the less we use our power, the greater it will be.”
199. “It takes time to persuade men to do even what is for their own good.”
Thomas Jefferson Quotes on Politics and Tyranny
200. “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.”
Those are 200 Thomas Jefferson quotes which inspire and build and we can take as a new fragment for all of our lives.