Thomas Jefferson, A man of the past who may have seen the future

I wanted to do this thread about one of my heros. Thomas Jefferson has been one of my heros since I was a boy in grade school. He wrote the Declaration of Independance, And had a hand in the formation of the Constitution.

I have always thought him a brilliant man who was bad with money. I didn't want to get into his biography as this is about some of the things that he said, but for those who want to know more about him, here is a link to a biography of him.
Thomas Jefferson Bio

Here is the link for the quotes which I would like to discuss.

Quotes of Thomas Jefferson

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

This is one of my favorite quotes attributited to him. I think that he foresaw that there would someday be a need for the Second Amendment. There is also this quote.

The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government

Clearly he saw the need for an armed citizenery.

The policy of the American government is to leave their citizens free, neither restraining nor aiding them in their pursuits.

I think that this one illistrates how he felt about big government.

Most bad government has grown out of too much government.

Here is another one.

I think myself that we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious

He was a lover of liberty. He has many comments on Liberty. Here is my favorite.

I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.

In relation to the first few quotes I posted above, There is this one. He saw the need for the citizens to have the right to defend themselves from not only their government which could turn tyrannical but from the common criminal. This is him quoting some one else.

“Laws that forbid the carrying of arms...disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes... Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.” (Quoting Cesare Beccaria)

Jefferson believed strongly in the right of the people to rebel against their government when, said government oversteps it's duty to the people.

God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty.... And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.

Then there is this one.

The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive. It will often be exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all.

He also had a common man's wisdom.

In matters of style, swim with the current;In matters of principle, stand like a rock.

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

I think that this one could relate to the MSM of today. Wouldn't you agree?

These are a few of the many quotes that are attributed to Jefferson. I believe that he may have been one of the wisest of the founding fathers. That of coarse is just my humble opinion.
I think that he foresaw some of the problems that we, today, face with our government. He didn't like government , but I think that he saw a need for it. Perhaps he even saw our governments meddeling in other countries affairs.

If there is one principle more deeply rooted in the mind of every American, it is that we should have nothing to do with conquest.

I believe, ATS, He even said, Deny Ignorance.

He who knows nothing is closer to the truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors.

Thanks for reading this thread. I look forward to your comments.

Lonegurkha

I love Thomas Jefferson quotes. He was a marvelous man, and just as much a genius as Albert Einstein. They may have pondered upon different fields, but they both have contributed to this world immeasurably.

We will never see another man like Jefferson, and I consider that a tragedy.

Great thread.

One of my favorite quotes, which I believe was from Jefferson (too lazy to google right now) is something along the lines of "A man who will give up liberty for protection deserves neither."

reply to post by Starchild23


Thank you for your reply. Jefferson has always been a hero to me. He was, to me at least. A true revolutionary and lover of liberty.

Originally posted by MJZoo
One of my favorite quotes, which I believe was from Jefferson (too lazy to google right now) is something along the lines of "A man who will give up liberty for protection deserves neither."

I think that one is attributed to Ben Franklin.

But thanks for the reply.

"Those who would sacrifice freedom for security deserve neither"

— Benjamin Franklin

reply to post by lonegurkha


Nice Thread!

We need a TJ or a Patrick Henry around these days!

Here are a couple of my favorites as well.

“Laws that forbid the carrying of arms...disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes... Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.” (Quoting Cesare Beccaria)

To take from one because it is thought that his own industry and that of his father’s has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association—the guarantee to every one of a free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it.

To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.

And one of my all time favorites which has been paraphrased by many modern people, and one which adorned my wall all through high school and served me well.

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

That quote combined with the next two quotes on luck is what really drove me to develop the work ethic I have today.

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. -- Seneca”

"Hell is the knowledge of opportunity lost; the place where the man I am comes face to face with the man I might have been."Anonymous

reply to post by jaggu1432


Thank you. I thought it was Franklin, but I wasn't sure.

reply to post by getreadyalready


Thank you for the complement. I like the quotes that you posted. Words to live by.

I have always believed that great words are the mark of great men.

Thomas Jefferson is a little more complicated than what the OP alludes too. I would highly suggest reading his first draft of the Declaration of Independence to see how his views actually were. They were very heavily tilted with a religious overtone. Thankfully Franklin was more secular and rewrote it to better represent all Americans.

Jefferson also was heavily involved in the French Revolution and often wrote back to friends at home proclaiming what a great thing it was. Some have even said he had a hand in the writing of, "The Declaration of Man." Well he eventually had to back off his stance of the Revolution when Robespierre came to power and created the murderous regime that he did. How much of this was inspired by Jefferson remains a mystery but according to his documents he was in France and deeply in support of it.

He also did not like the Constitution and believed more in his state of Virginia. His belief in States rule led to the "Nullification Doctrine," by John Calhoun who directly stated that the precedence for his actions were Virginia's resolutions rejecting the "Alien and Sedition Acts" passed by Congress in 1798. This belief passed along by Jefferson was a direct motivating factor in the South's secession from the Union.

I could go on about Jefferson for much longer but I think you get the point. He was not that great of an American visionary. He cared more for Virginia than he did for America. In his epitaph it is not even mentioned that he was President but it does mention that he founded the University of Virginia. He certainly did contribute to the nations founding but was not the integral part a lot seem to think he was.

reply to post by Kenrichaed


Actually Jefferson was a great deal more complicated that what the OP posted . That is why I posted the link to a biography of him. The actual topic is quotes of Jefferson.

Thank you for the information that you posted here. Some of it I was unaware of. I appreciate your effort and information. I will look into it more completely when I get some time this week.

Again thanks for the info.

reply to post by lonegurkha


Yes Jefferson has some very good quotes, I especially like the work he did on the education front that often goes overlooked and underappreciated.

I haven't read up on his bio in quite awhlie and that sounds like a good plan tonight. He was certainly a polarizing figure in American history.

Nice thread,OP.

I love Thomas Jefferson.A man of many accomplishments.
I bet he is rolling in his grave now with the state of the government is in today.

Too bad we don't have someone like him today to set things straight,but if we did it wouldn't matter they would just shun him and put him down like some crazy bastard.

reply to post by kdog1982


Or perhaps assassinate him. I think that his ideas on liberty wouldn't quite fit in with their agenda.

Thanks for the reply.

reply to post by Kenrichaed


You seem to believe that the rejection of the Alien and Sedition Acts was a bad thing. As much as I admire John Adams, I am astounded that man would have anything to do with the most odious and unforgivably precedent setting Alien and Sedition Acts, which were really just the first signs of what political parties will do to maintain power. Along with Jefferson and his Virginia Resolution there was James Madison and his Kentucky Resolution. Jefferson - and Madison and others - were spot on about the Alien and Sedition Acts they were unconstitutional, and while there some - including Garfield - who were critical of those rejecting an act of legislation that gleefully violated the right to speech and imprisoned people for it - claiming it fomented the seeds of revolution, some suggesting creating a doctrine that led to succession and even civil war, it was the wholly American thing to do in the face of tyranny.

There are plenty of modern day historians who would have people believe that any action taken to undermine federalism and a strong centralized government were antithetical to the Founder's desires, and will alarmingly then attempt to paint figures such as Thomas Jefferson as being people who were not really one of the Founders, as if anyone who disagreed with strong expansive government were just troublemakers...as if the Revolution of 1776 was a war fought in favor of strong centralized government with an executive power supreme granted arbitrary powers of silencing dissent.

Either one believes in the inherent political power belonging to We the People and that it is our responsibility to jealously guard those rights we came into this world with and to zealously protect them, or they don't. Jefferson clearly believed in the former, and some today would suggest this made him suspect.

While I really don't mean anything negative by the following statement, it is mostly just a random thought that popped into my head.

Quotes are basically the sound bites of History; they can be manipulated to inspire and rally the public to follow both just and unjust causes.

I don't think there is probably any truth to my thought, just thought I would share, since this thread is about inspiring quotes og TJ, that are being shown to relate to the current times.

reply to post by Jean Paul Zodeaux


Jefferson's views on Liberty, Freedom, and centralized federal government often mirror my own. As one of the founding fathers that I look up to, I find his views on many topics to be very enlightening. He along with Franklin and to an extent Madison helped me formulate my view of what America should be like.

It's a sad state we find ourselves in these days. I can imagine what they would think about the many abuses of power committed by our government, and I am sure they would place the blame where it truly belongs. On we the people for not doing our duty to the Constitution and holding the politicians responsible for these transgressions to the fire.

reply to post by GaboVarfang


While I agree with you that quotes are the soundbites of history and also that they can be used as you discribe. Sometimes and I think particularly in this case with Jefferson, I believe that they can give us a view of where the man stood with his views.

I was struck that some of his views of what the nation and it's government should be, as well as what that nation and government could become, were somewhat visionary with what we see happening today.

reply to post by Kenrichaed


Well he did see what religion did to the world during his time. Which is understandable considering he studied history as well and all the past incidents religion had been associated with or played a part in. He just agreed with taking a more scientific approach to how things should be dealt with.

Come now don't people know that the founders were a bunch of rich bigot white guys who didn't know anything.

They were the slim of humanity what did they know.