Money, not morality, is the principle commerce of civilized nations. – Thomas Jefferson
Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty. – Thomas Jefferson
As our enemies have found we can reason like men, so now let us show them we can fight like men also. – Thomas Jefferson
An association of men who will not quarrel with one another is a thing which has never yet existed, from the greatest confederacy of nations down to a town meeting or a vestry. – Thomas Jefferson
I have no ambition to govern men it is a painful and thankless office. – Thomas Jefferson
There is a natural aristocracy among men. The grounds of this are virtue and talents. – Thomas Jefferson
Politics is such a torment that I advise everyone I love not to mix with it. – Thomas Jefferson
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. – Thomas Jefferson
He who knows nothing is closer to the truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors. – Thomas Jefferson
I was bold in the pursuit of knowledge, never fearing to follow truth and reason to whatever results they led, and bearding every authority which stood in their way. – Thomas Jefferson
The glow of one warm thought is to me worth more than money. – Thomas Jefferson
The moment a person forms a theory, his imagination sees in every object only the traits which favor that theory. – Thomas Jefferson
I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be. – Thomas Jefferson
One loves to possess arms, though they hope never to have occasion for them. – Thomas Jefferson
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. – Thomas Jefferson
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. – Thomas Jefferson
It is neither wealth nor splendor but tranquility and occupation which give you happiness. – Thomas Jefferson
A Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference. – Thomas Jefferson
The republican is the only form of government which is not eternally at open or secret war with the rights of mankind. – Thomas Jefferson
Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. – Thomas Jefferson
