Quotes from Thomas Jefferson

A nation as a society forms a moral person, and every member of it is personally responsible for his society

On the dogmas of religion, as distinguished from moral principles, all mankind, from the beginning of the world to this day, have been quarreling, fighting, burning and torturing one another, for abstractions unintelligible to themselves and to all others, and absolutely beyond the comprehension of the human mind.

Those who labour in the earth are the chosen people of God.

No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden

The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government

A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inferences

The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite

Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burned, tortured, fined, and imprisoned, yet we have not advanced one inch toward uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half of the world fools and the other half hypocrites.

I hope we shall take warning from the example of England and crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations which dare already to challenge our Government to trial, and bid defiance to the laws of our country.

Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, then that of blindfolded fear.

The unsuccessful strugglers against tyranny have been the chief martyrs of treason laws in all countries.

Agriculture, manufacturers, commerce, and navigation, the four pillars of our prosperity, are then most thriving when left most free to individual enterprise.