Thomas Jefferson Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old Thomas Jefferson quotes, Thomas Jefferson sayings, and Thomas Jefferson proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.'

The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. Thomas Jefferson
A government big enough to give you everything you need is government big enough to take away everything you have. Thomas Jefferson
The government is the strongest of which every man feels himself a part. Thomas Jefferson
The second office of the government is honorable and easy; the first is but a splendid misery. Thomas Jefferson
We confide in our strength, without boasting of it; we respect that of others, without fearing it. Thomas Jefferson
Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you. Thomas Jefferson
From time to time, the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood and of tyrants and patriots. Thomas Jefferson
Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom. Thomas Jefferson
From candlelight to early bedtime, I read. Thomas Jefferson
A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high virtues of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. Thomas Jefferson
It is strangely absurd to suppose that a million of human beings, collected together, are not under the same moral laws which bind each of them separately. Thomas Jefferson
No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden. Thomas Jefferson
The ground I have already passed over enables me to see my way into that which is before me. Thomas Jefferson
But all theory must lead to experience, and every constitution has its own laws. Thomas Jefferson
Forty years of experience in government is worth a century of book-reading. Thomas Jefferson
I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. Thomas Jefferson
A mind always employed is always happy. This is the true secret, the grand recipe, for felicity. Thomas Jefferson
Go on then in doing with your pen what in other times was done with the sword: shew that reformation is more practicable by operating on the mind than on the body of man. Thomas Jefferson
A walk in Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of Life. Thomas Jefferson
France is every man's second country. Thomas Jefferson
My theory has always been, that if we are to dream, the flatteries of hope are as cheap, and pleasanter, than the gloom of despair. Thomas Jefferson
Never buy what you do not want, because it is cheap; it will be dear to you. Thomas Jefferson
When angry, count ten before you speak; if very angry a hundred. Thomas Jefferson
There is one spot on the globe, the possessor of which is our natural and habitual enemy. It is New Orleans. Thomas Jefferson
There is nothing more unequal than the equal treatment of unequal people. Thomas Jefferson
I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past. Thomas Jefferson
I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past. Thomas Jefferson
The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family. Thomas Jefferson
Those who labor on the earth are the chosen people of God if he ever had a chosen people. Thomas Jefferson
He who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and third time, till at length it becomes habitual, he tells lies without attending to it, and truths without the world's believing him. Thomas Jefferson