Famous Thomas Jefferson Quotes

  • Nothing was or is farther from my intentions, than to enlist myself as the champion of a fixed opinion, where I have only expressed doubt. – Thomas Jefferson

    Nothing was or is farther from my intentions, than to enlist myself as the champion of a fixed opinion, where I have only expressed doubt.– Thomas Jefferson

  • Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions. – Thomas Jefferson

    Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions.– Thomas Jefferson

  • We have the wolf by the ears; and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other. – Thomas Jefferson

    We have the wolf by the ears; and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other.– Thomas Jefferson

  • A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine. – Thomas Jefferson

    A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.– Thomas Jefferson

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

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

  • The Tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrant. It is its natural manure. – Thomas Jefferson

    The Tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrant. It is its natural manure.– Thomas Jefferson

  • The force of public opinion cannot be resisted when permitted freely to be expressed. The agitation it produces must be submitted to. – Thomas Jefferson

    The force of public opinion cannot be resisted when permitted freely to be expressed. The agitation it produces must be submitted to.– Thomas Jefferson

  • I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty, than those attending too small a degree of it. – Thomas Jefferson

    I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty, than those attending too small a degree of it.– Thomas Jefferson

  • Reason and free inquiry are the only effectual agents against error. – Thomas Jefferson

    Reason and free inquiry are the only effectual agents against error.– Thomas Jefferson

  • In a republican nation, whose citizens are to be led by reason and persuasion and not by force, the art of reasoning becomes of first importance – Thomas Jefferson

    In a republican nation, whose citizens are to be led by reason and persuasion and not by force, the art of reasoning becomes of first importance– Thomas Jefferson