55 Thomas Jefferson Quotes That Will Motivate You

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55 Best Thomas Jefferson Quotes

1. “The equal rights of man, and the happiness of every individual, are now acknowledged to be the only legitimate objects of government.” – Thomas Jefferson

2. “Every day is lost in which we do not learn something useful. Man has no nobler or more valuable possession than time.” – Thomas Jefferson

3. “To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.” – Thomas Jefferson

4. “When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.” – Thomas Jefferson

5. “A republican government is slow to move, yet once in motion it’s momentum becomes irresistible.” – Thomas Jefferson

6. “Do not bite at the bait of pleasure till you know there is no hook beneath it.” – Thomas Jefferson

7. “For people who are free, and who mean to remain so, a well-organized and armed militia is their best security.” – Thomas Jefferson

8. “To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.” – Thomas Jefferson

9. “I cannot live without books.” – Thomas Jefferson

10. “I predict future happiness for Americans, if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.” – Thomas Jefferson

11. “The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.” – Thomas Jefferson

12. “The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.” – Thomas Jefferson

13. “On matters of style, swim with the current, on matters of principle, stand like a rock.” – Thomas Jefferson

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

15. “Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances.” – Thomas Jefferson

16. “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.” – Thomas Jefferson

17. “Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.” – Thomas Jefferson

18. “The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.” – Thomas Jefferson

19. “In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.” – Thomas Jefferson

20. “I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.” – 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. “Never spend your money before you have earned it.” – Thomas Jefferson

23. “The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people; that… it is their right and duty to be at all times armed.” – Thomas Jefferson

24. “The glow of one warm thought is to me worth more than money.” – Thomas Jefferson

25. “When angry count to ten before you speak. If very angry, count to one hundred.” – Thomas Jefferson

26. “I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” – Thomas Jefferson

27. “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” – Thomas Jefferson

28. “Enlighten the people, generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like spirits at the dawn of day.” – Thomas Jefferson

29. “I do not take a single newspaper, nor read one a month, and I feel myself infinitely the happier for it.” – Thomas Jefferson

30. “Laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the general progress of the human mind.” – Thomas Jefferson

31. “It is neither wealth nor splendor, but tranquility and occupation which give happiness.” – Thomas Jefferson

32. “Never trouble another for what you can do for yourself.” – Thomas Jefferson

33. “No instance exists of a person’s writing two languages perfectly. That will always appear to be his native language which was most familiar to him in his youth.” – Thomas Jefferson

34. “Those who expect to be both ignorant and free, expect what never was and never will be.” – Thomas Jefferson

35. “The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield, and government to gain ground.” – Thomas Jefferson

36. “A great deal of love given to a few is better than a little to many.” – Thomas Jefferson

37. “Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of the body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day.” – Thomas Jefferson

38. “When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.” – Thomas Jefferson

39. “I have no ambition to govern men; it is a painful and thankless office.” – Thomas Jefferson

40. “I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” – Thomas Jefferson

41. “I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery.” – Thomas Jefferson

42. “The opinions and beliefs of men follow involuntarily the evidence proposed to their minds.” – Thomas Jefferson

43. “Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion.” – Thomas Jefferson

44. “Too old to plant trees for my own gratification, I shall do it for my posterity.” – Thomas Jefferson

45. “Ignorance is preferable to error, and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing than he who believes what is wrong.” – Thomas Jefferson

46. “The art of life is the art of avoiding pain.” – Thomas Jefferson

47. “A little rebellion is good now and then.” – Thomas Jefferson

48. “The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.” – Thomas Jefferson

49. “The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it always to be kept alive.” – Thomas Jefferson

50. “The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government, and to protect its free expression should be our first object.” – Thomas Jefferson

51. “We confide in our strength, without boasting of it; we respect that of others, without fearing it.” – Thomas Jefferson

52. “Every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle.”- Thomas Jefferson

53. “No government ought to be without censors; and where the press is free no one ever will.” – Thomas Jefferson

54. “How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy!” – Thomas Jefferson

55. “I believe that every human mind feels pleasure in doing good to another.” – Thomas Jefferson

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