2,194 Quotes by Thomas Jefferson

I wish it were possible to obtain a single amendment to our Constitution. I would be willing to depend on that alone for the reduction of the administration of our government; I mean an additional article taking from the Federal Government the power of borrowing.

I believe that every human mind feels pleasure in doing good to another.

The art of printing secures us against the retrogradation of reason and information.

Every gentleman plays billiards, but someone who plays billiards too well, is no gentleman.

This is perhaps the most important statement on religion ever made. It clarified the intent of the founders of the constitution irrespective of the attempts of modern day religious revisionists...

There is... an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth, without either virtue or talents... The artificial aristocracy is a mischievous ingredient in government, and provision should be made to prevent its ascendency.

The beauty of the second amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it.

A share in the sovereignty of the state, which is exercised by the citizens at large, in voting at elections is one of the most important rights of the subject, and in a republic ought to stand foremost in the estimation of the law.

While prudence will endeavor to avoid this issue of war, bravery will prepare to meet it.