Thomas Jefferson Quotes

Resort is had to ridicule only when reason is against us. Thomas Jefferson

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

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

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

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

I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be. Thomas Jefferson

I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. Thomas Jefferson

In matters of principle, stand like a rock; in matters of taste, swim with the current. Thomas Jefferson

Beer, if drank with moderation, softens the temper, cheers the spirit and promotes health. Thomas Jefferson

I considered the British as our natural enemies, and as the only nation on earth who wished us ill from the bottom of their souls. And I am satisfied that were our continent to be swallowed up by the ocean, Great Britain would be in a bonfire from one end to the other. Thomas Jefferson

Delay is preferable to error. Thomas Jefferson

I have not observed men’s honesty to increase with their riches. Thomas Jefferson

No man will ever bring out of the Presidency the reputation which carries him into it. To myself, personally, it brings nothing but increasing drudgery and daily loss of friends. Thomas Jefferson

I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Thomas Jefferson

Dissent is the highest form of patriotism. Thomas Jefferson

In truth, politeness is artificial good humor, it covers the natural want of it, and ends by rendering habitual a substitute nearly equivalent to the real virtue. Thomas Jefferson

I hold it that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical…It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government. Thomas Jefferson

Tranquility is the old man’s milk. Thomas Jefferson

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

Nothing gives one person so great advantage over another, as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances. Thomas Jefferson

There is a natural aristocracy among men. The grounds of this are virtue and talents.Thomas Jefferson

Experience has already shown that the impeachment the Constitution has provided is not even a scarecrow. Thomas Jefferson

The small landholders are the most precious part of a state. Thomas Jefferson

Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations; entangling alliances with none. Thomas Jefferson

Friendship is but another name for an alliance with the follies and the misfortunes of others. Our own share of miseries is sufficient: why enter then as volunteers into those of another? Thomas Jefferson

The selfish spirit of commerce, which knows no country, and feels no passion or principle but that of gain. Thomas Jefferson

If you are obliged to neglect any thing, let it be your chemistry. It is the least useful and the least amusing to a country gentleman of all the ordinary branches of science. Thomas Jefferson

The moment a person forms a theory, his imagination sees in every object only the traits which favour that theory. Thomas Jefferson

Men are disposed to live honestly if the means of doing so are open to them. Thomas Jefferson

Great innovation should not be forced on slender majorities. Thomas Jefferson

Money, and not morality, is the principle of commerce and commercial nations. Thomas Jefferson

If I could not go to heaven except with a political party, I would rather not go there at all. Thomas Jefferson

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

The act of repentance itself is often sweetened with the thought that it clears our account for a repetition of the same sin. Thomas Jefferson

An association of men who will not quarrel with one another is a thing which has never yet existed, from the greatest confederacy of nations down to a town meeting or a vestry. Thomas Jefferson