Inspiration, Motivation, People

40 Inspiring Quotes by Thomas Jefferson

Best Thomas Jefferson Quotes

Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States and an American Founding Father. He was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence. He was also responsible for the Louisiana Purchase. Here are some of insightful quotes by Thomas Jefferson.

Thomas Jefferson Quotes

 

  1. “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.” - Thomas Jefferson
  2. “My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.” - Thomas Jefferson
  3. “Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.” - Thomas Jefferson
  4. “The beauty of the Second Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it.” - Thomas Jefferson
  5. “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.” - Thomas Jefferson
  6. “The Bible is the source of liberty” - Thomas Jefferson
  7. “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.” - Thomas Jefferson
  8. “The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.” - Thomas Jefferson
  9. “In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.” - Thomas Jefferson
  10. “An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people.” - Thomas Jefferson
  11. “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” - Thomas Jefferson
  12. “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” - Thomas Jefferson
  13. “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.” - Thomas Jefferson
  14. “A government big enough to give you everything you want, is a government big enough to take away everything that you have.” - Thomas Jefferson
  15. “I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.” - Thomas Jefferson
  16. “I would rather be judged by 12 farmers than 12 scholars.” - Thomas Jefferson
  17. “The glow of one warm thought is to me worth more than money.” - Thomas Jefferson
  18. “Sir, no nation has ever yet existed or been governed without religion. Nor can be. The Christian religion is the best religion that has been given to man, and I as chief magistrate of this nation am bound to give it the sanction of my example.” - Thomas Jefferson
  19. “The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.” - Thomas Jefferson
  20. “Yes, we did produce a near-perfect republic. But will they keep it? Or will they, in the enjoyment of plenty, lose the memory of freedom? Material abundance without character is the path of destruction.” - Thomas Jefferson
  21. “Educate and inform the whole mass of the people… They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.” - Thomas Jefferson
  22. “Information is the currency of democracy.” - Thomas Jefferson
  23. “Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances.” - Thomas Jefferson
  24. “If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered…I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies… The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.”
  25. “Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching.” - Thomas Jefferson
  26. “Some of my finest hours have been spent on my back veranda, smoking hemp and observing as far as my eye can see.” - Thomas Jefferson
  27. “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.” - Thomas Jefferson
  28. “The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.” - Thomas Jefferson
  29. “Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far.” - Thomas Jefferson
  30. “I have examined all the known superstitions of the world, and I do not find in our particular superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature. They are all alike founded on fables and mythology.” - Thomas Jefferson
  31. “He who knows nothing is closer to the truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors.” - Thomas Jefferson
  32. “That government is best which governs least” - Thomas Jefferson
  33. “One travels more usefully when alone, because he reflects more.” - Thomas Jefferson
  34. “Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not.” - Thomas Jefferson
  35. “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.” - Thomas Jefferson
  36. “When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.” - Thomas Jefferson
  37. “For a people who are free, and who mean to remain so, a well-organized and armed militia is their best security.” - Thomas Jefferson
  38. “Without God, liberty will not last.” - Thomas Jefferson
  39. “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
  40. “Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.” - Thomas Jefferson

Exceeding are the famous quotes by Thomas Jefferson, the former President of United States. If you have more of his quotes do share the same through your comments.