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I Learn With Great Concern That [one] Portion Of Our Frontier So Interesting, So Important, And So Exposed, Should Be So Entirely Unprovided With Common Fire-arms. I Did Not Suppose Any Part Of The United States So Destitute Of What Is Considered As Among The First Necessaries Of A Farm-house.
-Thomas Jefferson
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I Learn With Great

Thomas Jefferson
I Learn With Great Concern That [one] Portion Of Our Frontier So Interesting, So Important, And So Exposed, Should Be So Entirely Unprovided With Common Fire-arms. I Did Not Suppose Any Part Of The United States So Destitute Of What Is Considered As Among The First Necessaries Of A Farm-house.
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Gun
Fire
Interesting
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Considering The Great Importance To The Public Liberty Of The Freedom Of The Press, And The Difficulty Of Submitting It To Very Precise Rules, The Laws Have Thought It Less Mischievous To Give Greater Scope To Its Freedom Than To The Restraint Of It.
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In Truth, Politeness Is Artificial Good Humor, It Covers The Natural Want Of It, And Ends By Rendering Habitual A Substitute Nearly Equivalent To The Real Virtue.
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The Mass Of Mankind Has Not Been Born With Saddles On Their Backs, Nor A Favored Few Booted And Spurred, Ready To Ride Them Legitimately, By The Grace Of God.
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Our Judges Are As Honest As Other Men And Not More So. They Have, With Others, The Same Passions For Party, For Power, And The Privilege Of Their Corps.
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If The Happiness Of The Mass Of Mankind Can Be Secured At The Expense Of A Little Tempest Now And Then, Or Even Of A Little Blood, It Will Be A Precious Purchase.
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I Know Nothing More Important To Inculcate Into The Minds Of Young People Than The Wisdom, The Honor, And The Blessed Comfort Of Living Within Their Income.
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When A Uniform Exercise Of Kindness To Prisoners On Our Part Has Been Returned By As Uniform Severity On The Part Of Our Enemies,you Must Excuse Me For Saying It Is High Time, By Other Lessons, To Teach Respect To The Dictates Of Humanity; In Such A Case, Retaliation Becomes An Act Of Benevolence.
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I Believe That Banking Institutions Are More Dangerous To Our Liberties Than Standing Armies. Already They Have Raised Up A Moneyed Aristocracy That Has Set The Government At Defiance. The Issuing Power Should Be Taken From The Banks And Restored To The People To Whom It Properly Belongs.
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We May Say With Truth And Meaning, That Governments Are More Or Less Republican, As They Have More Or Less Of The Element Of Popular Election And Control In Their Composition; And Believing As I Do, That The Mass Of The Citizens Is The Safest Depository Of Their Own Rights And Especially That The Evils Flowing From The Duperies Of The People Are Less Injurious Than Those From The Egoism Of Their Agents, I Am A Friend To That Composition Of Government Which Has In It The Most Of This Ingredient.
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A Walk About Paris Will Provide Lessons In History, Beauty, And In The Point Of Life.
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Army
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A Superintending Power To Maintain The Universe In Its Course And Order.
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Military
Brave
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Fashion
Mind
Principles
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Running
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Long
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Forever
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Government
Done
Intention
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Happiness
Heartfelt
Known
A Government Is Republican In Proportion As Every Member Composing It Has His Equal Voice In The Direction Of Its Concerns, Not Indeed In Person, Which Would Be Impracticable Beyond The Limits Of A City Or Small Township, But By Representatives Chosen By Himself And Responsible To Him At Short Periods.
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Cities
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Knowledge Indeed Is A Desirable, A Lovely Possession.
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Desirable
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No Country And No People Can Be Free And Ignorant At The Same Time.
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Hysterical
Ennui
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Men
I Join You Therefore In Branding As Cowardly The Idea That The Human Mind Is Incapable Of Further Advances.
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Ideas
Mind
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Men
Rivers
Path
The Doctrines Of Jesus Are Simple, And Tend To All The Happiness Of Man.
Jesus
Simple
Men
Fix Reason Firmly In Her Seat, And Call On Her Tribunal For Every Fact, Every Opinion. Question With Boldness Even The Existence Of A God
Religious
Atheist
Faith Religion
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Pain
Giving
Mind
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Peace
War
Punishment
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Reading
Reflection
Bears
Error Indeed Has Often Prevailed By The Assistance Of Power Or Force. Truth Is The Proper And Sufficient Antagonist To Error.
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Politics
Truth Is
Hemp Is Of First Necessity To The Wealth & Protection Of The Country.
Weed
Country
Marijuana
Our Public Credit Is Good, But The Abundance Of Paper Has Produced A Spirit Of Gambling In The Funds, Which Has Laid Up Our Ships At The Wharves As Too Slow Instruments Of Profit, And Has Even Disarmed The Hand Of The Tailor Of His Needle And Thimble. They Say The Evil Will Cure Itself. I Wish It May; But I Have Rarely Seen A Gamester Cured, Even By The Disasters Of His Vocation.
Gambling
Hands
Evil
If The Wise Be The Happy Man... He Must Be Virtuous Too; For, Without Virtue, Happiness Cannot Be. This Then Is The True Scope Of All Academical Emulation.
Wise
Men
Emulation
Our Tenet Ever Was . . . That Congress Had Not Unlimited Powers To Provide For The General Welfare, But Were Restrained To Those Specifically Enumerated; And That, As It Was Never Meant That They Should Provide For That Welfare But By The Exercise Of The Enumerated Powers, So It Could Not Have Been Meant They Should Raise Money For Purposes Which The Enumeration Did Not Place Under Their Action.
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Purpose
Action
Every Society Has A Right To Fix The Fundamental Principles Of Its Association, And To Say To All Individuals, That If They Contemplate Pursuits Beyond The Limits Of These Principles And Involving Dangers Which The Society Chooses To Avoid, They Must Go Somewhere Else For Their Exercise; That We Want No Citizens, And Still Less Ephemeral And Pseudo-citizens, On Such Terms. We May Exclude Them From Our Territory, As We Do Persons Infected With Disease.
Exercise
Somewhere Else
Principles
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Ideas
Aries
No Idea
Every Man Wishes To Pursue His Occupation And To Enjoy The Fruits Of His Labours And The Produce Of His Property In Peace And Safety, And With The Least Possible Expense. When These Things Are Accomplished, All The Objects For Which Government Ought To Be Established Are Answered.
Men
Safety
Wish
The Happiest Hours Of My Life Have Been Spent In The Flow Of Affection Among Friends.
Flow
Affection
Hours
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Confidence
Honesty
Good Nature
I View Great Cities As Pestilential To The Morals, The Health And The Liberties Of Man. True, They Nourish Some Of The Elegant Arts; But The Useful Ones Can Thrive Elsewhere; And Less Perfection In The Others, With More Health, Virtue And Freedom, Would Be My Choice.
Art
Health
Men
Every Constitution..., And Every Law, Naturally Expires At The End Of 19 Years [a Generation]. If It Be Enforced Longer, It Is Anact Of Force, And Not Of Right.
Years
Law
Generations
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Peace
War
Army
In A Free Society With A Government Based On Reason, It Is Inevitable That There Will Be No Uniform Opinion About Important Issues. Those Accustomed To Suppression And Control By Governmental Authority See This As Leading Only To Chaos. But A Government Of The People Requires Difference Of Opinion In Order To Discover Truth And To Take Advantage Of The Opportunity That Only Understanding Brings.
Opportunity
Order
Differences
I Consider Ethics, As Well As Religion, As Supplements To Law In The Government Of Man.
Men
Law
Ethics
It Will Take A Thousand Years For The Frontier To Reach The Pacific
Inspirational
Years
Thousand
The First Object Of Human Association [is] The Full Improvement Of Their Condition.
Politics
Association
Firsts
Our Ancient Laws Expressly Declare That Those Who Are But Delegates Themselves Shall Not Delegate To Others Powers Which Require Judgment And Integrity In Their Exercise.
Integrity
Exercise
Law
No Religious Reading, Instruction Or Exercise, Shall Be Prescribed Or Practiced [in The Elementary Schools] Inconsistent With The Tenets Of Any Religious Sect Or Denomination.
Religious
Reading
School
The Sentiments Of Men Are Known Not Only By What They Receive, But What They Reject Also.
Ambition
Men
Human Nature
There Is Not One Redeeming Feature In Our Superstition Of Christianity. It Has Made One Half The World Fools, And The Other Half Hypocrites.
Religious
Father
Hypocrite
My Views And Feelings (are) In Favor Of The Abolition Of War-and I Hope It Is Practicable, By Improving The Mind And Morals Of Society, To Lessen The Disposition To War; But Of Its Abolition I Despair.
Military
War
Views
The Purpose Of Establishing Different Houses Of Legislation Is To Introduce The Influence Of Different Interests Or Different Principles.
House
Political
Principles
It Is Highly Interesting To Our Country, And It Is The Duty Of Its Functionaries, To Provide That Every Citizen In It Should Receive An Education Proportioned To The Condition And Pursuits Of His Life.
Country
Interesting
Citizens
I Steer My Bark With Hope In The Head, Leaving Fear Astern.
Hope
Fear
Leaving
Truth Is The Proper And Sufficient Antagonist To Error, And Has Nothing To Fear From The Conflict, Unless, By Human Interposition, Disarmed Of Her Natural Weapons, Free Argument And Debate; Errors Ceasing To Be Dangerous When It Is Permitted Freely To Contradict Them.
Errors
Politics
Weapons
I Set Out On This Ground, Which I Suppose To Be Self Evident, "that The Earth Belongs In Usufruct To The Living": That The Dead Have Neither Powers Nor Rights Over It.
Rights
Self
Generations
The Question Whether The Judges Are Invested With Exclusive Authority To Decide On The Constitutionality Of A Law Has Been Heretofore A Subject Of Consideration With Me In The Exercise Of Official Duties. Certainly There Is Not A Word In The Constitution Which Has Given That Power To Them More Than To The Executive Or Legislative Branches.
Exercise
Law
Judging
The Evils Of War Are Great In Their Endurance, And Have A Long Reckoning For Ages To Come.
War
Long
Evil
The Religion-builders Have So Distorted And Deformed The Doctrines Of Jesus, So Muffled Them In Mysticism, Fancies, And Falsehoods.
Jesus
Fancy
Doctrine
Ignorance Of The Law Is No Excuse In Any Country. If It Were, The Laws Would Lose Their Effect, Because It Can Always Be Pretended.
Country
Ignorance
Law
The Advertisement Is The Most Truthful Part Of A Newspaper.
Motivational
Truth
Humorous
Being Myself A Warm Zealot For The Attainment & Enjoiment By All Mankind Of As Much Liberty As Each May Exercise Without Injury To The Equal Liberty Of His Fellow Citizens, I Have Lamented That In France The Endeavors To Obtain This Should Have Been Attended With The Effusion Of So Much Blood.
Exercise
Blood
Should Have
Unmerited Abuse Wounds, While Unmerited Praise Has Not The Power To Heal.
Abuse
Praise
Heal
I Have Ever Judged Of The Religion Of Others By Their Lives... But This Does Not Satisfy The Priesthood. They Must Have A Positive, A Declared Assent To All Of Their Interested Absurdities. My Opinion Is That There Would Never Have Been An Infidel, If There Had Never Been A Priest.
Religion
Atheism
Doe
The System Of Banking Have[for]ever Reprobated. I Contemplate It As A Blot Left In All Our Constitutions, Which, If Not Covered, Will End In Their Destruction, Which Is Already Hit By The Gamblers In Corruption, And Is Sweeping Away In Its Progress The Fortunes And Morals Of Our Citizens.
Progress
Citizens
Banking
I Duly Acknowledge That I Have Gone Through A Long Life, With Fewer Circumstances Of Affliction Than Are The Lot Of Most Men. Uninterrupted Health, A Competence For Every Reasonable Want, Usefulness To My Fellow-citizens, A Good Portion Of Their Esteem, No Complaint Against The World Which Has Sufficiently Honored Me, And Above All, A Family Which Has Blessed Me By Their Affections, And Never By Their Conduct Given Me A Moment's Pain.
Pain
Blessed
Health
I Considered 4 Of These Bills [of The Revised Code Of Virginia] As Forming A System By Which Every Fibre Would Be Eradicated Of Antient Or Future Aristocracy; And A Foundation Laid For A Government Truly Republican.
Government
Virginia
Foundation
There Is Not A Truth Existing Which I Fear... Or Would Wish Unknown To The Whole World.
Truth
Honesty
Fear
To Compel A Man To Furnish Funds For The Propagation Of Ideas He Disbelieves And Abhors Is Sinful And Tyrannical.
Wisdom
Men
Ideas
We Are Destined To Be A Barrier Against The Return Of Ignorance And Barbarism. Old Europe Will Have To Lean On Our Shoulders, And To Hobble Along By Our Side, Under The Monkish Trammels Of Priests And Kings, As She Can. What A Colossus Shall We Be When The Southern Continent Comes Up To Our Mark! What A Stand Will It Seem As A Ralliance For The Reason And Freedom Of The Globe!
Kings
Ignorance
Europe
The Price Of Barbecue Is Eternal Vigilance.
Barbecue
Vigilance
Eternal
The Good Opinion Of Mankind, Like The Lever Of Archimedes, With The Given Fulcrum, Moves The World.
Moving
Public Opinion
World
A Determination Never To Do What Is Wrong, Prudence, And Good-humor, Will Go Far Toward Securing To You The Estimation Of The World.
Determination
World
Prudence
The Mobs Of Great Cities Add Just So Much To The Support Of Pure Government As Sores Do To The Strength Of The Human Body.
Government
Cities
Support
If There Be Any Among Us Who Wish To Dissolve The Union Or To Change Its Republican Form, Let Them Stand Undisturbed, As Monuments Of The Safety With Which Error Of Opinion May Be Tolerated Where Reason Is Left Free To Combat It.
Change
Errors
Safety
Fear Can Only Prevail When Victims Are Ignorant Of The Facts.
Ignorant
Facts
Terrorism
Our Minds Were Circumscribed Within Narrow Limits By An Habitual Belief That It Was Our Duty To Be Subordinate To The Mother Country.
Country
Mother
Mind
Whenever The People Are Well-informed, They Can Be Trusted With Their Own Government.
Trust
Freedom
Educational
I Hope That We Have Not Labored In Vain, And That Our Experiment Will Still Prove That Men Can Be Governed By Reason.
Men
Politics
Reason
Shake Hands With Pain, Give Greeting Unto Grief, Those Angels In Disguise, And Thy Glad Soul From Height To Height, From Star To Shining Star, Shall Climb And Claim Blest Immortality.
Stars
Pain
Grief
State A Moral Case To A Plowman And A Professor. The Former Will Decide It As Well, And Often Better Than The Latter, Because He Has Not Been Led Astray By Artificial Rules.
Intelligence
Ethics
Morality
Were We Directed From Washington When To Sow And When To Reap, We Should Soon Want Bread.
4th Of July
Government
Political
So Much Of The Presidency Is A Matter Of Standing In The Path Of A Newsham Engine For Quenching Fires, Opening One's Mouth, And Attempting To Get A Drink.
Fire
Mouths
Matter
The Earth Belongs To The Living, Not To The Dead.
Life
Inspire
Earth
[the People] Are In Truth The Only Legitimate Proprietors Of The Soil And Government.
Government
People
Soil
Our Minds And Hearts Are Free To Believe Everything Or Nothing At All - And It Is Our Duty To Protect And Perpetuate This Sacred Culture Of Freedom.
Believe
Heart
Mind
But With Respect To Future Debt; Would It Not Be Wise And Just For That Nation To Declare In The Constitution They Are Forming That Neither The Legislature, Nor The Nation Itself Can Validly Contract More Debt, Than They May Pay Within Their Own Age, Or Within The Term Of 19 Years.
Wise
Government
Debt Free
My General Plan Would Be To Make The States One As To Everything Connected With Foreign Nations And Several As To Everything Purely Domestic.
Would Be
States
Plans
The Art Of Reasoning Becomes Of First Importance. In This Line Antiquity Has Left Us The Finest Models For Imitation; I Should Consider The Speeches Of Livy, Sallust, And Tacitus, As Pre-eminent Specimens Of Logic, Taste, And That Sententious Brevity Which, Using Not A Word To Spare, Leaves Not A Moment For Inattention To The Hearer. Amplification Is The Vice Of Modern Oratory.
Art
Taste
Firsts
Eternal Vigilance Is The Price Of Democracy.
Democracy
Vigilance
Eternal
The Purse Of The People Is The Real Seat Of Sensibility. Let It Be Drawn Upon Largely, And They Will Then Listen To Truths Which Could Not Excite Them Through Any Other Organ.
Real
People
Purses
We Established However Some, Although Not All Its [self-government] Important Principles . The Constitutions Of Most Of Our States Assert, That All Power Is Inherent In The People; That They May Exercise It By Themselves, In All Cases To Which They Think Themselves Competent, (as In Electing Their Functionaries Executive And Legislative, And Deciding By A Jury Of Themselves, In All Judiciary Cases In Which Any Fact Is Involved,) Or They May Act By Representatives, Freely And Equally Chosen; That It Is Their Right And Duty To Be At All Times Armed.
Exercise
Thinking
Government
They Are Exactly The Persons Who Are To Succeed To The Government Of Our Country And To Rule Its Future Enmities, Its Friendships And Fortunes.
Country
Government
Succeed
You Know Well That Government Always Kept A Kind Of Standing Army Of Newswriters Who, Without Any Regard To Truth Or To What Should Be Like Truth, Invented And Put Into The Papers Whatever Might Serve The [government] Ministers. This Suffices With The Mass Of The People Who Have No Means Of Distinguishing The False From The True Paragraphs Of A Newspaper.
Mean
Army
Government
Dispositions Of The Mind, Like Limbs Of The Body, Acquire Strength By Exercise.
Exercise
Mind
Body
Any Woodsman Can Tell You That In A Broken And Sundered Nest, One Can Hardly Find More Than A Precious Few Whole Eggs. So It Is With The Family.
Father
Eggs
Broken
No Instance Exists Of A Person's Writing Two Language Perfectly. That Will Always Appear To Be His Native Language Which Was Most Familiar To Him In His Youth.
Writing
Native Language
Two
Every Man, And Every Body Of Men On Earth, Possesses The Right Of Self-government. They Receive It With Their Being From The Hand Of Nature. Individuals Exercise It By Their Single Will; Collections Of Men By That Of Their Majority; For The Law Of The Majority Is The Natural Law Of Every Society Of Men.
Change
Exercise
Men
I Find The Pain Of A Little Censure, Even When It Is Unfounded, Is More Acute Than The Pleasure Of Much Praise.
Pain
Emotional
Criticism
The Tumults In America I Expected Would Have Produced In Europe An Unfavorable Opinion Of Our Political State. But It Has Not. On The Contrary, The Small Effect Of These Tumults Seems To Have Given More Confidence In The Firmness Of Our Governments. The Interposition Of The People Themselves On The Side Of Government Has Had A Great Effect On The Opinion Here In Europe.
Wisdom
Government
Europe
Having Seen The People Of All Other Nations Bowed Down To The Earth Under The Wars And Prodigalities Of Their Rulers, I Have Cherished Their Opposites, Peace, Economy, And Riddance Of Public Debt, Believing That These Were The High Road To Public As Well As Private Prosperity And Happiness.
Peace
War
Believe
We Have Already Given In Example One Effectual Check To The Dog Of War By Transferring The Power Of Letting Him Loose From The Executive To The Legislative Body
Dog
War
Example
The Attempt Of Lavoisier To Reform Chemical Nomenclature Is Premature. One Single Experiment May Destroy The Whole Filiation Of His Terms; And His String Of Sulphates, Sulphites, And Sulphures, May Have Served No End Than To Have Retarded The Progress Of Science By A Jargon, From The Confusion Of Which Time Will Be Requisite To Extricate Us.
Science
Confusion
Confusing
Never Spend Your Money Before You Have Earned It.
Money
Debt Free
Owing A Debt
The Dead Should Not Rule The Living
Should
The Bible Makes The Best People In The World.
People
World
And Say, Finally, Whether Peace Is Best Preserved By Giving Energy To The Government Or Information To The People. This Last Is The Most Legitimate Engine Of Government. Educate And Inform The Whole Mass Of People. Enable Them To See That It Is Their Interest To Preserve Peace And Order, And They Will Preserve Them. And It Requires No Very High Degree Of Education To Convince Them Of This. They Are The Only Sure Reliance For The Preservation Of Our Liberty.
Government
Order
People
The Proscribing Any Citizen As Unworthy The Public Confidence By Laying Upon Him An Incapacity Of Being Called To Offices Of Trust And Emolument Unless He Profess Or Renounce This Or That Religious Opinion Is Depriving Him Injuriously Of Those Privileges And Advantages To Which, In Common With His Fellow Citizens, He Has A Natural Right.
Religious
Office
Atheism
I Know Of No Safe Depository Of The Ultimate Powers Of The Society But The People Themselves; And If We Think Them Not Enlightened Enough To Exercise Their Control With A Wholesome Discretion, The Remedy Is Not To Take It From Them But To Inform Their Discretion.
Education
Peace
Exercise
Even In Europe A Change Has Sensibly Taken Place In The Mind Of Man. Science Has Liberated The Ideas Of Those Who Read And Reflect, And The American Example Has Kindled Feelings Of Right In The People. An Insurrection Has Consequently Begun Of Science Talents And Courage Against Rank And Birth, Which Have Fallen Into Contempt. It Has Failed In Its First Effort, Because The Mobs Of The Cities, The Instrument Used For Its Accomplishment, Debased By Ignorance, Poverty And Vice, Could Not Be Restrained To Rational Action. But The World Will Soon Recover From The Panic Of This First Catastrophe.
Change
Taken
Ignorance
The Course Of History Shows That As A Government Grows, Liberty Decreases.
Gun
Government
Southern
Educate And Inform The Whole Mass Of The People. Enable Them To See That It Is Their Interest To Preserve Peace And Order, And They Will Preserve Them.
Meaningful
Order
People
It Is Not By The Consolidation Or Concentration Of Powers But By Their Distribution That Good Government Is Effected.
Government
Political
Concentration
Nothing Can Stop The Man With The Right Mental Attitude From Achieving His Goal; Nothing On Earth Can Help The Man With The Wrong Mental Attitude.
Inspirational
Positive
Success
By Oft Repeating An Untruth, Men Come To Believe It Themselves.
Believe
Men
Politics
No Freeman Shall Be Debarred The Use Of Arms.
Second Amendment
Use
Arms
The Spirit Of The Times May Alter, Will Alter. Our Rulers Will Become Corrupt, Our People Careless... From The Conclusion Of This War We Shall Be Going Downhill. It Will Not Then Be Necessary To Resort Every Moment To The People For Support. They Will Be Forgotten, Therefore, And Their Rights Disregarded. They Will Forget Themselves, But In The Sole Faculty Of Making Money, And Will Never Think Of Uniting To Affect A Due Respect For Their Rights. The Shackles, Therefore, Will Be Made Heavier And Heavier, Till Our Rights Shall Revive Or Expire In A Convulsion.
War
Thinking
Rights
I Am Tired Of A Life Of Contention, And Of Being The Personal Object For The Hatred Of Every Man, Who Hates The Present State Of Things.
Hate
Tired
Men
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.
Peace
War
Should Have
We Must Endeavor To Forget Our Former Love For Them [the British] And To Hold Them, As We Hold The Rest Of Mankind, Enemies In War, In Peace Friends.
War
Enemy
Forget
Sir, Your Letter Of The 15th Is Received, But Age Has Long Since Obliged Me To Withhold My Mind From Speculations Of The Difficulty Of Those Of Your Letter, That Their Are Means Of Artificial Buoyancy By Which Man May Be Supported In The Air, The Balloon Has Proved, And That Means Of Directing It May Be Discovered Is Against No Law Of Nature And Is Therefore Possible As In The Case Of Birds, But To Do This By Mechanical Means Alone In A Medium So Rare And Unassisting As Air Must Have The Aid Of Some Principal Not Yet Generally Known.
Mean
Men
Air
What We Learn To Do, We Learn By Doing.
Inspirational
Educational
Learning
Laws Abridging The Natural Right Of The Citizen Should Be Restrained By Rigorous Constructions Within Their Narrowest Limits.
Law
Citizens
Limits
The Bulk Of Mankind Are Schoolboys Through Life.
Teaching
Mankind
Every Citizen Should Be A Soldier. This Was The Case With The Greeks And Romans, And Must Be That Of Every Free State.
Peace
War
House
My God! How Little Do My Countrymen Know What Precious Blessings They Are In Possession Of, And Which No Other People On Earth Enjoy!
Freedom
4th Of July
Patriotic
Peace, That Glorious Moment In Time When Everyone Stops And Reloads.
Moments
Moments In Time
Glorious
The Contradictory Experiments Of Chemists Leave Us At Liberty To Conclude What We Please. My Conclusion Is, That Art Has Not Yet Invented Sufficient Aids To Enable Such Subtle Bodies [air, Light, &c.] To Make A Well-defined Impression On Organs As Blunt As Ours; That It Is Laudable To Encourage Investigation But To Hold Back Conclusion.
Art
Science
Light
Reason And Free Inquiry Are The Only Effectual Agents Against Error.
Errors
Enquiry
Inquiry
If There Is A Gratification Which I Envy Any People In This World It Is To Your Country [italy] Its Music. This Is The Favorite Passion Of My Soul, And Fortune Has Cast My Lot In A Country Where It Is In A State Of Deplorable Barbarism.
Music
Country
Passion
Those Who Labor In The Earth Are The Chosen People Of God.
Garden
People
Earth
I Shall See With Sincere Satisfaction The Progress Of Those Sentiments Which Tend To Restore To Man All His Natural Rights, Convinced He Has No Natural Right In Opposition To His Social Duties.
Men
Rights
Progress
Whenever You Do A Thing, Act As If All The World Were Watching.
Inspirational
Life
Motivational
Understanding Quotes: Their Essence and Application

Quotes, or quotations, are powerful tools in communication, encapsulating ideas, emotions, and wisdom in concise expressions. They serve various purposes across different contexts, from academic writing to everyday conversation.

1. Defining Quotes

A quote is a repetition of someone else's statement or thoughts. It can be a direct replication of words spoken or written by another individual, often used to support arguments, provide evidence, or convey profound insights.


2. The Importance of Quotes

2.1. Enhancing Credibility

Incorporating quotes from authoritative sources can bolster the credibility of your work. By referencing experts or primary sources, you demonstrate thorough research and a solid foundation for your arguments.


2.2. Providing Evidence

Quotes serve as concrete evidence to support claims. In academic and professional writing, they validate points made, offering readers a basis to trust the information presented.


2.3. Conveying Emotions and Perspectives

Quotes can encapsulate emotions and perspectives succinctly. They allow writers to express complex feelings or viewpoints through the words of others, often more eloquently than paraphrasing.


3. Types of Quotes

3.1. Direct Quotes

Direct quotes involve copying the exact words from a source, enclosed in quotation marks. They are used when the original wording is significant or particularly well-expressed.


3.2. Indirect Quotes (Paraphrasing)

Indirect quotes restate the original message in your own words. While not enclosed in quotation marks, they still require proper attribution to the original source.


3.3. Block Quotes

Block quotes are lengthy direct quotations, formatted as a separate block of text. They are typically used for quotes exceeding a certain length, varying by citation style. For instance, in APA style, quotes longer than 40 words are formatted as block quotes.



4. Proper Usage of Quotes


4.1. Contextual Relevance

Ensure that the quote you choose is relevant to the topic and adds value to your content. Avoid inserting quotes solely for decorative purposes.


4.2. Integration into Your Writing

Seamlessly integrate quotes into your writing. Introduce them appropriately and follow up with analysis or commentary to connect them to your main points.


4.3. Attribution and Citation

Always attribute quotes to their original authors and provide proper citations according to the required style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).


5. Common Mistakes to Avoid


5.1. Overusing Quotes

Relying too heavily on quotes can overshadow your voice. Use them sparingly to support your arguments, not replace them.


5.2. Lack of Analysis

Presenting a quote without analysis or explanation can leave readers questioning its relevance. Always follow up with your interpretation or discussion.


5.3. Misquoting or Taking Out of Context

Ensure that quotes are accurate and not taken out of context, as this can mislead readers and undermine your credibility.



6. Quotes in Different Contexts


6.1. Academic Writing

In academic writing, quotes are used to support arguments, provide evidence, and engage with existing literature. Proper citation is crucial to avoid plagiarism.


6.2. Journalism

Journalists use quotes to provide firsthand accounts, add authenticity, and present multiple perspectives within a story.


6.3. Literature and Creative Writing

In literature, quotes can be used to convey character voices, themes, and stylistic elements. They enrich narratives and provide depth to storytelling.



7. Punctuation and Formatting


Understanding the correct punctuation and formatting of quotes is essential:


Quotation Marks: Always enclose direct quotes within quotation marks.


Punctuation Placement: In American English, periods and commas are placed inside quotation marks, while colons and semicolons are placed outside.


Block Quotes: For longer quotes, format them as block quotes without quotation marks, and indent the entire block.



8. Ethical Considerations


Ethical use of quotes involves accurate representation, proper attribution, and respect for intellectual property. Misuse can lead to plagiarism, which carries serious academic and professional consequences.

9. Tools for Managing Quotes


Utilize tools like citation generators and plagiarism checkers to manage quotes effectively. These tools help ensure proper formatting and originality in your writing.



Conclusion


Quotes are invaluable in enriching content, providing evidence, and conveying complex ideas succinctly. When used appropriately, they enhance the quality and credibility of your writing. Always ensure relevance, proper integration, and ethical usage to maximize their impact.


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