Thomas Jefferson quotes

Thomas Jefferson was an American statesman, diplomat, and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence. Widely regarded as a Founding Father, he served as the third president of the United States. He played a crucial role in shaping the early history and government of the nation. Here are 717 of his quotes:

Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom. (Thomas Jefferson)
The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers. View quote
Thomas Jefferson
I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past. View quote
Thomas Jefferson
The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest. View quote
Thomas Jefferson
When angry, count ten before you speak if very angry, count a hundred. View quote
Thomas Jefferson
In matters of style, swim with the current: in matters of principle, stand like a rock. View quote
Thomas Jefferson
I agree with you that there is a natural aristocracy among men. The grounds of this are virtue and talents... View quote
Thomas Jefferson
No government ought to be without censors; and where the press is free no one ever will. View quote
Thomas Jefferson
Only aim to do your duty, and mankind will give you credit where you fail. View quote
Thomas Jefferson
The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government. View quote
Thomas Jefferson
Delay is preferable to error. (Thomas Jefferson)
Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst, and cold. View quote
Thomas Jefferson
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. View quote
Thomas Jefferson
Advertisements contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper. View quote
Thomas Jefferson
The price of liberty is eternal vigilance. View quote
Thomas Jefferson
I cannot live without books. View quote
Thomas Jefferson
Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day. View quote
Thomas Jefferson
I prefer to be remembered for what I have done for others, not what others have done for me. View quote
Thomas Jefferson
Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you. View quote
Thomas Jefferson
I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it. View quote
Thomas Jefferson
Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, Author of the Declaration of American Independence, Of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, And Father of the University of Virginia. (Thomas Jefferson)
Experience demands that man is the only animal which devours his own kind, for I can apply no milder term to the general prey of the rich on the poor. View quote
Thomas Jefferson
Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances. View quote
Thomas Jefferson
I do not take a single newspaper, nor read one a month, and I feel myself infinitely the happier for it. View quote
Thomas Jefferson
When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe. View quote
Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson - Image
Occupation: American President
Born: April 13, 1743
Died: July 4, 1826
Quotes count: 717
Wikipedia: Thomas Jefferson

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