When we come to the moral principles on which the government is to be administered, we come to what is proper for all conditions of society. Liberty, truth, probity, honor, are declared to be the four cardinal principles of society. I believe that morality, compassion, generosity, are innate elements of the human constitution; that there exists a right independent of force.
- Thomas Jefferson
More Quotes By Thomas Jefferson
Now I will avow, that I then believed and now believe that those general principles of Christianity are... Among the most inestimable of our blessings is that … of liberty to worship our Creator in the... An elective despotism was not the government we fought for, but one which should not only be founded... Is it less dishonest to do what is wrong because it is not expressly prohibited by written law?... Trade liberty for safety or money and you’ll end up with neither. Liberty, like a grain of salt,... A society that will trade a little liberty for a little order will lose both, and deserve neither.
The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases.
In a government bottomed on the will of all, the… liberty of every individual citizen becomes interesting to... The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.
On the dogmas of religion, as distinguished from moral principles, all mankind, from the beginning of the world... You know well that government always kept a kind of standing army of newswriters who, without any regard... When the people are afraid of the government, that’s tyranny. But when the government is afraid of the... A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the... An enlightened citizenry is indispensable for the proper functioning of a republic. Self-government is not possible unless the... “It astonishes me to find… [that so many] of our countrymen… should be contented to live under a...
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