Thomas Jefferson

United States
13 Apr 1743 // 4 Jul 1826
Statesman, Politician

Quotes



We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honour.
Whenever any form of government becomes destructive... it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it...
He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable; that all men are created equal and independent, that from that equal creation they derive fights inherent and inalienable, among which are the preservation of life and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
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On Anger: "For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind."
Essays
On Destiny: "Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our future that lays down the law of our today."
Human, All Too Human
On Friendship: "A crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love."
Essays