Famous Thomas Jefferson quotes on liberty, religion and education
Are leaders born or built? This question has been debated countless times. One of the most famous and influential global leaders of the past was President Thomas Jefferson. He was a wise leader who taught people across the world essential life lessons on liberty, education and religion. Most Thomas Jefferson quotes are still valid and applicable in today's world.
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Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States of America. His tenure of power started in 1801 and ended in 1809. During this period, and after his era as president, he made the world a better place through Thomas Jefferson quotes. His words of wisdom tackled various facets of human life. These include religion, education, liberty, governance, and many others.
Popular Thomas Jefferson quotes
Throughout his life, the third American president talked about education, religion, liberty, freedom and many other topics. Through the quotes by Thomas Jefferson, many people were enlightened and sensitised about critical social issues that needed attention.
Most popular quotes from Thomas Jefferson
The most famous Thomas Jefferson quotes about life touch on sensitive matters that we must all keep in mind at all times. When we apply wisdom, the correct attitude, principle, self-drive and self-control, we make the world a better place. These things allow us to promote tolerance towards different religions and to promote freedom and high-quality education for all.
- "Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom."
- "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."
- "In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock."
- "Never spend your money before you have earned it."
- "When angry count to ten before you speak. If very angry, count to one hundred."
- "If you want something you've never had, you must be willing to do something you've never done."
Thomas Jefferson quotes on liberty
In an ideal world, each person in each country would be free from any form of oppressive restrictions that are imposed by authority. Although the situation has improved over the years, not every human being is at liberty in their country. The third president of America dreamed of an ideal world where people were at liberty.
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- "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
- "I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it."
- "It is an axiom in my mind, that our liberty can never be safe but in the hands of the people themselves, and that too of the people with a certain degree of instruction. This it is the business of the State to effect, and on a general plan."
- "Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost."
- "Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty."
- "Liberty is the great parent of science and of virtue; and a nation will be great in both in proportion as it is free."
Thomas Jefferson religion quotes
Religion is an integral part of most human beings. Different religions have their unique practices and doctrines, which we should all respect instead of criticising what is different from your beliefs. Differences in religion should not hinder one from experiencing a full life.
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- "I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend."
- "It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg."
- "When we see religion split into so many thousands of sects, and I may say Christianity itself divided into its thousands also, who are disputing, anathematising and where the laws permit burning and torturing one another for abstractions which no one of them understand, and which are indeed beyond the comprehension of the human mind, into which of the chambers of this Bedlam would a man wish to thrust himself."
- "Say nothing of my religion. It is known to God and myself alone. Its evidence before the world is to be sought in my life: if it has been honest and dutiful to society the religion which has regulated it cannot be a bad one."
- "Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error all over the earth."
- "The constitutional freedom of religion is the most inalienable and sacred of all human rights."
Thomas Jefferson quotes on education
Good education is essential for every human being. Educated people have a better understanding of the world, and their perspective about different things is better and more informed. President Jefferson advocated for good-quality education for every human being.
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- "The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers."
- "Educate and inform the whole mass of the people… They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."
- "I cannot live without books."
- "I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power."
- "Every day is lost in which we do not learn something useful. Man has no nobler or more valuable possession than time."
- "Enlighten the people, generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like spirits at the dawn of day."
Thomas Jefferson quotes on freedom
Freedom allows human beings the chance to speak, pursue happiness and act without being overly restricted. When we have freedom, we exploit our potential and talents. Creativity and happiness also increase. Thomas Jefferson quotes freedom teach us all the importance of freedom in living worthwhile lives.
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- "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."
- "I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery."
- "The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government, and to protect its free expression should be our first object."
- "Errors of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it."
- "Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe."
- "For a people who are free, and who mean to remain so, a well-organised and armed militia is their best security."
Thomas Jefferson famous quotes on government & equality
Any government is crucial for the development of a country and its relations with other countries. The leaders in government must always have the interests of their people at heart. When there is proper leadership in government, social issues such as gender equality are given due attention.
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- "A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labour the bread it has earned."
- "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."
- "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."
- "I predict future happiness for Americans, if they can prevent the government from wasting the labours of the people under the pretence of taking care of them."
- "The equal rights of man, and the happiness of every individual, are now acknowledged to be the only legitimate objects of government."
Freedom, liberty, education and religion are some of the most critical issues in modern society. The above Thomas Jefferson quotes touch on these issues and remind us about the value of each human being and their right to religion, education and their own opinion. When these rights are respected, the world becomes a better place for everyone.
Source: Legit.ng
