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Many Are The Exercises Of Power Reserved To The States Wherein A Uniformity Of Proceeding Would Be Advantageous To All. Such Are Quarantines, Health Laws, Regulations Of The Press, Banking Institutions, Training Militia, Etc., Etc.
-Thomas Jefferson
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Many Are The Exercises

Thomas Jefferson
Many Are The Exercises Of Power Reserved To The States Wherein A Uniformity Of Proceeding Would Be Advantageous To All. Such Are Quarantines, Health Laws, Regulations Of The Press, Banking Institutions, Training Militia, Etc., Etc.
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Exercise
Law
Training
More From Thomas Jefferson
In The Constitution Of Spain As Proposed By The Late Cortes, There Was A Principle Entirely New To Me:... That No Person Born After That Day Should Ever Acquire The Rights Of Citizenship Until He Could Read And Write. It Is Impossible Sufficiently To Estimate The Wisdom Of This Provision. Of All Those Which Have Been Thought Of For Securing Fidelity In The Administration Of The Government, Constant Reliance To The Principles Of The Constitution, And Progressive Amendments With The Progressive Advances Of The Human Mind Or Changes In Human Affairs, It Is The Most Effectual.
Writing
Rights
Government
While Wading Through The Whimsies, The Puerilities, And Unintelligible Jargon Of This Work [plato's Republic], I Laid It Down Often To Ask Myself How It Could Have Been That The World Should Have So Long Consented To Give Reputation To Such Nonsense As This?
Plato
Philosophy
Science
Nothing Is More Incumbent On The Old Than To Know When They Should Get Out Of The Way And Relinquish To Younger Successors The Honors They Can No Longer Earn, And The Duties They Can No Longer Perform.
Honor
Way
Should
If We Are Made In Some Degree For Others, Yet In A Greater Are We Made For Ourselves.
Happiness
Degrees
Made
Not For Ourselves Alone, But For All Humanity... Let Us Hasten To Find The Path That Leads To Liberty, Safety, And Peace For Everyone.
Safety
Humanity
Liberty
Some Men Look At Constitutions With Sanctimonious Reverence, And Deem Them, Like The Ark Of The Covenant, Too Sacred To Be Touched. They Ascribe To The Men Of The Preceding Age A Wisdom More Than Human, And Suppose What They Did To Be Beyond Amendment. I Knew That Age Well; I Belonged To And Labored With It. It Deserved Well Of Its Country. It Was Very Like The Present, But Without The Experience Of The Present; And Forty Years Of Experience In Government Is Worth A Century Of Book-reading; And This They Would Say Themselves, Were They To Rise From The Dead.
Country
Book
Reading
The Worst Day In A Man's Life Is When He Sits Down And Begins Thinking About How He Can Get Something For Nothing.
Men
Thinking
Down And
We Defer Therefore Till This Time Twelve Month To Avail Ourselves Of The Instruction Of That Place, And Particularly Of Your Kindness In The Two Branches Of Botany And Natural History To Which We Wish Him Particularly To Apply.
Kindness
Educational
Two
The Man Who Stops Advertising To Save Money Is Like The Man Who Stops The Clock To Save Time.
Men
Advertising
Saving Money
It Is A Melancholy Truth, That A Suppression Of The Press Could Not More Completely Deprive The Nation Of Its Benefits Than Is Done By Its Abandoned Prostitution To Falsehood.
Done
Benefits
Melancholy
The Power Of Making War Often Prevents It.
War
Antiwar
Where Everyman Is Participator In The Government Of Affairs, Not Merely At An Election One Day In The Year But Everyday, He Will Let The Heart Be Torn Out Of His Body Sooner Than His Power Be Wrested From Him By A Caesar Or A Bonaparte.
Heart
Government
Years
Man, Once Surrendering His Reason, Has No Remaining Guard Against Absurdities The Most Monstrous. . . .
Men
Religion
Reason
We Wish The Happiness And Prosperity Of Every Nation.
Wish
Prosperity
Foreign Policy
No Person Shall Be Restrained Of His Liberty But By Regular Process From A Court Of Justice, Authorized By A General Law. . . . On Complaint Of An Unlawful Imprisonment To Any Judge Whatsoever, He Shall Have The Prisoner Immediately Brought Before Him And Shall Discharge Him If His Imprisonment Be Unlawful. The Officer In Whose Custody The Prisoner Is Shall Obey The Order Of The Judge, And Both Judge And Officer Shall Be Responsible Civilly And Criminally For A Failure Of Duty Herein.
Law
Order
Justice
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
The Late Rebellion In Massachusetts Has Given More Alarm Than I Think It Should Have Done. Calculate That One Rebellion In Thirteen States In The Course Of Eleven Years, Is But One For Each State In A Century And A Half. No Country Should Be So Long Without One. Nor Will Any Degree Of Power In The Hands Of Government Prevent Insurrections.
Wisdom
Country
Thinking
Ignorance Is A Poor Tool In A Battle Of Wits.
Ignorance
Battle
Tools
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
The Great Object Of My Fear Is The Federal Judiciary. That Body, Like Gravity, Ever Acting, With Noiseless Foot, And Unalarming Advance, Gaining Ground Step By Step, And Holding What It Gains, Is Ingulfing Insidiously The Special Governments Into The Jaws Of That Which Feeds Them.
Government
Feet
Special
To Draw Around The Whole Nation The Strength Of The General Government As A Barrier Against Foreign Foes... Is [one Of The] Functions Of The General Government On Which [our Citizens] Have A Right To Call.
Government
Citizens
Function
The Olive Tree Is Surely The Richest Gift Of Heaven. I Can Scarcely Expect Bread.
Tree
Heaven
Olive Oil
Against Us Are All Timid Men Who Prefer The Calm Of Despotism To The Boisterous Sea Of Liberty We Are Likely To Preserve The Liberty We Have Obtained Only By Unremitting Labors And Perils.
Men
Sea
Liberty
Freedom Of Religion, Freedom Of The Press, Freedom Of Person Under Protection Of Habeas Corpus; And Trial By Juries Impartially Selected, These Principles Form The Bright Constellation Which Has Gone Before Us, And Guided Our Steps Through An Age Of Revolution And Reformation.
Freedom
Age
Trials
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.
Gun
Fire
Interesting
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.
Life
Change
Happiness
Every State Has A Natural Right In Cases Not Within The Compact (casus Non Faederis) To Nullify Of Their Own Authority All Assumptions Of Power By Others Within Their Limits. Without This Right, They Would Be Under The Dominion, Absolute And Unlimited, Of Whosoever Might Exercise This Right Of Judgment For Them.
Exercise
Government
Would Be
History Teaches The Young The Virtues Of Freedom. By Apprising Them Of The Past It Will Enable Them To Judge The Future.
Past
History
Judging
There Are Two Subjects, Indeed, Which I Shall Claim A Right To Further As Long As I Breathe: The Public Education, And The Sub-division Of Counties Into Wards. I Consider The Continuance Of Republican Government As Absolutely Hanging On These Two Hooks.
Education
Government
Two
It Is My Disposition To Maintain Peace Until Its Condition Shall Be Made Less Tolerable Than That Of War Itself.
War
Political
Made
No Nation Is Drunken Where Wine Is Cheap, And None Sober Where The Dearness Of Wine Substitutes Ardent Spirits As The Common Beverage
Wine
Alcohol
Vineyards
I Feel... An Ardent Desire To See Knowledge So Disseminated Through The Mass Of Mankind That It May, At Length, Reach Even The Extremes Of Society: Beggars And Kings.
Kings
Desire
May
I Am Myself An Empiric In Natural Philosophy, Suffering My Faith To Go No Further Than My Facts. I Am Pleased, However, To See The Efforts Of Hypothetical Speculation, Because By The Collisions Of Different Hypotheses, Truth May Be Elicited And Science Advanced In The End.
Philosophy
Effort
Suffering
For Here We Are Not Afraid To Follow Truth Wherever It May Lead.
Truth
May
Not Afraid
Convinced That The People Are The Only Safe Depositories Of Their Own Liberty, And That They Are Not Safe Unless Enlightened To A Certain Degree, I Have Looked On Our Present State Of Liberty As A Short-lived Possession Unless The Mass Of The People Could Be Informed To A Certain Degree.
Education
People
Liberty
A Government Held Together By The Bands Of Reason Only, Requires Much Compromise Of Opinion.
Government
Together
Band
An Enlightened Citizenry Is Indispensable For The Proper Functioning Of A Republic. Self-government Is Not Possible Unless The Citizens Are Educated Sufficiently To Enable Them To Exercise Oversight. It Is Therefore Imperative That The Nation See To It That A Suitable Education Be Provided For All Its Citizens.
Exercise
Government
Self
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
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
Ridicule Is The Only Weapon Which Can Be Used Against Unintelligible Propositions.
Religion
Atheism
Libertarian
Our Duty To Ourselves, To Posterity, And To Mankind, Call On Us By Every Motive Which Is Sacred Or Honorable, To Watch Over The Safety Of Our Beloved Country During The Troubles Which Agitate And Convulse The Residue Of The World, And To Sacrifice To That All Personal And Local Considerations.
Country
Sacrifice
Safety
While Old Men Feel Sensibly Enough Their Own Advance In Years, They Do Not Sufficiently Recollect It In Those Whom They Have Seenyoung.
Men
Years
Enough
While Prudence Will Endeavor To Avoid This Issue Of War, Bravery Will Prepare To Meet It.
War
Issues
Bravery
Establish The Eternal Truth That Acquiescence Under Insult Is Not The Way To Escape War.
Military
War
Acquiescence
A Country Whose Buildings Are Of Wood, Can Never Increase In Its Improvements To Any Considerable Degree.... Whereas When Buildings Are Of Durable Materials, Every New Edifice Is An Actual And Permanent Acquisition To The State, Adding To Its Value As Well As To Its Ornament.
Country
Degrees
Ornaments
I Am Increasingly Persuaded That The Earth Belongs Exclusively To The Living And That One Generation Has No More Right To Bind Another To It's Laws And Judgments Than One Independent Nation Has The Right To Command Another.
Independent
Law
Generations
Nothing Is More Certainly Written In The Book Of Fate Than That These People Are To Be Free.
Book
Fate
People
There Is On The Globe One Single Spot, The Possessor Of Which Is Our Natural And Habitual Enemy. It Is New Orleans, Through Which The Produce Of Three-eighths Of Our Territory Must Pass To Market, And From Its Fertility It Will Ere Long Yield More Than Half Of Our Whole Produce And Contain More Than Half Our Inhabitants.
Yield
New Orleans
History
I Join You Therefore In Branding As Cowardly The Idea That The Human Mind Is Incapable Of Further Advances.
Educational
Ideas
Mind
Ignorance And Bigotry, Like Other Insanities, Are Incapable Of Self-government.
Ignorance
Government
Self
At The Time We Were Funding Our National Debt, We Heard Much About "a Public Debt Being A Public Blessing"; That The Stock Representing It Was A Creation Of Active Capital For The Aliment Of Commerce, Manufactures And Agriculture. This Paradox Was Well Adapted To The Minds Of Believers In Dreams.
Dream
Wisdom
Blessing
The Impious Presumption Of Legislators And Rulers, Civil As Well As Ecclesiastical, Who, Being Themselves But Fallible And Uninspired Men, Have Assumed Dominion Over The Faith Of Others, Setting Up Their Own Opinions And Modes Of Thinking As The Only True And Infallible, And As Such Endeavoring To Impose Them On Others, Hath Established And Maintained False Religions Over The Greatest Part Of The World And Through All Time.
Men
Thinking
Church
Were I To Be The Founder Of A New Sect, I Would Call Them Apiarians, And, After The Example Of The Bee, Advise Them To Extract The Honey Of Every Sect. My Fundamental Principle Would Be ... That We Are To Be Saved By Our Good Works Which Are Within Our Power, And Not By Our Faith Which Is Not Within Our Power.
Principles
Example
Would Be
Drawing ... Is An Innocent & Engaging Amusement, Often Useful, And A Qualification Not To Be Neglected In One Who Is To Become A Mother & An Instructor.
Mother
Educational
Drawing
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 Are All Federalists,and We Are All Republicans.
Republican
Federalist
I Never Did, Or Countenanced, In Public Life, A Single Act Inconsistent With The Strictest Good Faith; Having Never Believed There Was One Code Of Morality For A Public, And Another For A Private Man.
Integrity
Men
Morality
Sensibility Of Mind Is Indeed The Parent Of Every Virtue, But It Is The Parent Of Much Misery, Too.
Parent
Mind
Misery
I Have Sometimes Asked Myself Whether My Country Is The Better For My Having Lived At All? I Do Not Know That It Is. I Have Been The Instrument Of Doing The Following Things; But They Would Have Been Done By Others; Some Of Them, Perhaps, A Little Better.
Country
Done
Littles
One Loves To Possess Arms, Though They Hope Never To Have Occasion For Them.
Love
Strength
Hope
It Is As Useless To Argue With Those Who Have Renounced The Use Of Reason As To Administer Medication To The Dead.
Use
Arguing
Reason
A Pirate Spreading Misery And Ruin Over The Face Of The Ocean
Ocean
Pirate
Insulting
We Never Repent Of Having Eaten Too Little.
Inspirational
Food
Weight Loss
I Set Out On This Ground Which I Suppose To Be Self-evident, That The Earth Belongs In Usufruct To The Living. . . . We Seem Not To Perceive That, By The Law Of Nature, One Generation Is To Another As One Independent Nation Is To Another. . . . The Earth Belongs Always To The Living Generations.
4th Of July
Independent
Self
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
Nothing Is Unchangeable But The Inherent And Unalienable Rights Of Man.
Men
Rights
Morality
Say Nothing Of My Religion. It Is Known To God And Myself Alone. Its Evidence Before The World Is To Be Sought In My Life: If It Has Been Honest And Dutiful To Society The Religion Which Has Regulated It Cannot Be A Bad One.
Religion
World
Honest
The Result Of Your Fifty Or Sixty Years Of Religious Reading In The Four Words: 'be Just And Good,' Is That In Which All Our Enquiries Must End.
Religious
Reading
Years
If Thinking Men Would Have The Courage To Think For Themselves, And To Speak What They Think, It Would Be Found They Do Not Differ In Religious Opinions As Much As Is Supposed.
Religious
Men
Thinking
[an] Act Of The Congress Of The United States... Which Assumes Powers... Not Delegated By The Constitution, Is Not Law, But Is Altogether Void And Of No Force.
Law
Void
United States
There Is A Fulness Of Time When Men Should Go, And Not Occupy Too Long The Ground To Which Others Have A Right To Advance.
Men
Long
Should
I Feel A Much Greater Interest In Knowing What Has Passed Two Or Three Thousand Years Ago, Than In What Is Now Passing. I Read Nothing, Therefore, But Of The Heroes Of Troy, ... Of Pompey And Caesar, And Of Augustus Too.
Hero
Two
Knowing
I Am Convinced That Those Societies (such As The Native American Peoples) Which Live Without Government Enjoy In Their General Mass An Infinitely Greater Degree Of Happiness Than Those Who Live Under The European Governments. Among The Former, Public Opinion Is In The Place Of Law, & Restrains Morals As Powerfully As Laws Ever Did Anywhere. Among The Latter, Under Pretence Of Governing They Have Divided Their Nations Into Two Classes, Wolves & Sheep. I Do Not Exaggerate.
Native American
Sheep
Government
It Is So Difficult To Draw A Clear Line Of Separation Between The Abuse And The Wholesome Use Of The Press, That As Yet We Have Found It Better To Trust The Public Judgment, Rather Than The Magistrate, With The Discrimination Between Truth And Falsehood. And Hitherto The Public Judgment Has Performed That Office With Wonderful Correctness.
Office
Abuse
Lines
There Is A Natural Aristocracy Among Men. The Grounds Of This Are Virtue And Talents.
Short Life
Men
Hair
History, I Believe, Furnishes No Example Of A Priest-ridden People Maintaining A Free Civil Government. This Marks The Lowest Grade Of Ignorance Of Which Their Civil As Well As Religious Leaders Will Always Avail Themselves For Their Own Purposes.
Religious
Believe
Ignorance
I Will Now Add What I Do Not Like. First, The Omission Of A Bill Of Rights Providing Clearly And Without The Aid Of Sophisms For Freedom Of Religion, Freedom Of The Press, Protection Against Standing Armies, Restriction Against Monopolies, The Eternal And Unremitting Force Of The Habeas Corpus Laws, And Trials By Jury In All Matters Of Fact Triable By The Laws Of The Land And Not By The Law Of Nations.
Army
Omission
Rights
How To Check These Unconstitutional Invasions Of Rights By The Federal Judiciary? Not By Impeachment In The First Instance, But By A Strong Protestation Of Both Houses Of Congress That Such And Such Doctrines Advanced By The Supreme Court Are Contrary To The Constitution; And If Afterwards They Relapse Into The Same Heresies, Impeach And Set The Whole Adrift. For What Was The Government Divided Into Three Branches, But That Each Should Watch Over The Others And Oppose Their Usurpations?
Strong
Rights
Government
The Wise Know Too Well Their Weakness To Assume Infallibility; And He Who Knows Most Knows Best How Little He Knows.
Wise
Wisdom
Weakness
We Are Completely Saddled And Bridled, And... The Bank Is So Firmly Mounted On Us That We Must Go Where It Will Guide.
Wisdom
Politics
Economy
The Issuing Power [of Money] Should Be Taken From The Banks And Restored To The People, To Whom It Properly Belongs.
Taken
Democracies Have
Government
Though Written Constitutions May Be Violated In Moments Of Passion Or Delusion, Yet They Furnish A Text To Which Those Who Are Watchful May Again Rally And Recall The People; They Fix Too For The People The Principles Of Their Political Creed.
Passion
People
Political
The Most Valuable Of All Talents Is That Of Never Using Two Words When One Will Do.
Inspirational
Motivational
Teaching
The Gothic Idea That We Were To Look Backwards Instead Of Forwards For The Improvement Of The Human Mind, And To Recur To The Annals Of Our Ancestors For What Is Most Perfect In Government, In Religion And In Learning, Is Worthy Of Those Bigots In Religion And Government By Whom It Has Been Recommended, And Whose Purposes It Would Answer. But It Is Not An Idea Which This Country Will Endure.
Country
Ideas
Government
We Do, Then, Most Solemnly Before God And The World Declare That Regardless Of Every Consequence, At The Risk Of Every Distress, The Arms We Have Been Compelled To Assume We Will Use With Perseverance, Exerting To Their Utmost Energies All Those Powers Which Our Creator Hath Given Us To Preserve That Liberty Which He Committed To Us In Sacred Deposit And To Protect From Every Hostile Hand Our Lives And Our Properties.
Perseverance
Hands
Risk
If We Could Believe That Jesus...countenanced The Follies, Falsehoods And Charlatanisms Which His Biographers Father On Him, ...the Conclusion Would Be Irresistible...that He Was An Imposter.
Jesus
Father
Believe
The Patient, Treated On The Fashionable Theory, Sometimes Gets Well In Spite Of The Medicine.
Get Well
Medicine
Patient
But Though An Old Man, I Am But A Young Gardener.
Men
Garden
Young
It Would Reduce The Whole Instrument To A Single Phrase, That Of Instituting A Congress With Power To Do Whatever Would Be For The Good Of The United States; And As They Would Be The Sole Judges Of The Good Or Evil, It Would Be Also A Power To Do Whatever Evil They Please . . . . Certainly No Such Universal Power Was Meant To Be Given Them. It [the Constitution] Was Intended To Lace Them Up Straightly Within The Enumerated Powers And Those Without Which, As Means, These Powers Could Not Be Carried Into Effect.
Mean
Evil
Judging
Instead Of An Aristocracy Of Wealth, Of More Harm And Danger Than Benefit To Society, To Make An Opening For The Aristocracy Of Virtue And Talent, Which Nature Has Wisely Provided For The Direction Of The Interests Of Society And Scattered With Equal Hand Through All Its Conditions, Was Deemed Essential To A Well-ordered Republic.
Hands
Essentials
Aristocracy
Though You Cannot See, When You Take One Step, What Will Be The Next, Yet Follow Truth, Justice, And Plain Dealing, And Never Fear Their Leading You Out Of [any Difficult Situation] In The Easiest Manner Possible.
Truth
Lying
Difficult Situations
The Physician Is Happy In The Attachment Of The Families In Which He Practices. All Think He Has Saved One Of Them, And He Finds Himself Everywhere A Welcome Guest, A Home In Every House.
Home
Thinking
Attachment
I Would Rather Be Exposed To The Inconveniences Attending Too Much Liberty Than Those Attending Too Small A Degree Of It.
Freedom
Government
Political
Conquest Is Not In Our Principles. It Is Inconsistent With Our Government.
War
Government
Principles
The People, Especially When Moderately Instructed, Are The Only Safe, Because The Only Honest, Depositaries Of The Public Rights, And Should Therefore Be Introduced Into The Administration Of Them In Every Function To Which They Are Sufficient; They Will Err Sometimes And Accidentally, But Never Designedly, And With A Systematic And Persevering Purpose Of Overthrowing The Free Principles Of The Government.
Rights
Government
People
Dependence Begets Subservience And Venality, Suffocates The Germ Of Virtue, And Prepares Fit Tools For The Designs Of Ambition.
Ambition
Government
Design
The Earth Is Given As A Common For Men To Labor And Live In.
Nature
Educational
Men
Commerce With All Nations, Alliance With None, Should Be Our Motto.
War
Liberty
Alliances
I Find That The Harder I Work, The More Luck I Seem To Have.
Inspirational
Success
Determination
Both Of Our Political Parties, At Least The Honest Portion Of Them, Agree Conscientiously In The Same Object: The Public Good; But They Differ Essentially In What They Deem The Means Of Promoting That Good. One Side Believes It Best Done By One Composition Of The Governing Powers, The Other By A Different One. One Fears Most The Ignorance Of The People; The Other The Selfishness Of Rulers Independent Of Them. Which Is Right, Time And Experience Will Prove.
Party
Believe
Ignorance
Laws Abridging The Natural Right Of The Citizen Should Be Restrained By Rigorous Constructions Within Their Narrowest Limits.
Law
Citizens
Limits
The Policy Of The American Government Is To Leave Their Citizens Free, Neither Restraining Nor Aiding Them In Their Pursuits.
4th Of July
Government
Liberty
I Never Submitted The Whole System Of My Opinions To The Creed Of Any Party Of Men Whatever, In Religion, In Philosophy, In Politics, Or In Anything Else, Where I Was Capable Of Thinking For Myself. Such An Addiction Is The Last Degradation Of A Free And Moral Agent. If I Could Not Go To Heaven But With A Party, I Would Not Go There At All.
Philosophy
Party
Men
It Is Incumbent On Every Generation To Pay Its Own Debts As It Goes. A Principle Which If Acted On Would Save One-half The Wars Of The World.
Wisdom
War
Government Debt
Nothing Is So Engaging As The Little Domestic Cares Into Which You Appear To Be Entering, And As To Reading It Is Useful For Onlyfilling Up The Chinks Of More Useful And Healthy Occupations.
Reading
Healthy
Entering
All Men Are Created Equal.
Men
Classic
Equal
A Departure From Principle In One Instance Becomes A Precedent For A Second; That Second For A Third; And So On, Till The Bulk Of The Society Is Reduced To Be Mere Automatons Of Misery, To Have No Sensibilities Left But For Sin And Suffering.
Adversity
Suffering
Principles
For Heaven's Sake Discard The Monstrous Wig Which Makes The English Judges Look Like Rats Peeping Through Bunches Of Oakum.
Judging
Heaven
Looks
There Is Preparing, I Hope, Under The Auspices Of Heaven, A Way For A Total Emancipation.
Heaven
Way
Emancipation
No People Can Be Both Ignorant And Free.
People
Ignorant
My Most Earnest Wish Is To See The Republican Element Of Popular Control Pushed To The Maximum Of Its Practicable Exercise. I Shall Then Believe That Our Government May Be Pure And Perpetual.
Believe
Exercise
Government
I See,... And With The Deepest Affliction, The Rapid Strides With Which The Federal Branch Of Our Government Is Advancing Towards The Usurpation Of All The Rights Reserved To The States, And The Consolidation In Itself Of All Powers, Foreign And Domestic; And That, Too, By Constructions Which, If Legitimate, Leave No Limits To Their Power... It Is But Too Evident That The Three Ruling Branches Of [the Federal Government] Are In Combination To Strip Their Colleagues, The State Authorities, Of The Powers Reserved By Them, And To Exercise Themselves All Functions Foreign And Domestic.
Exercise
Rights
Government
A Judiciary Independent Of A King Or Executive Alone, Is A Good Thing; But Independence Of The Will Of The Nation Is A Solecism, At Least In A Republican Government.
Kings
Independent
Government
The Christian Priesthood, Finding The Doctrines Of Christ Leveled To Every Understanding, And Too Plain To Need Explanation, Saw, In The Mysticism Of Plato, Materials With Which They Might Build Up An Artificial System Which Might, From It's Indistinctness, Admit Everlasting Controversy, Give Employment For Their Order, And Introduce It To Profit, Power And Pre-eminence.
Christian
Plato
Order
The Same Political Parties Which Now Agitiate The Us Have Existed Through All Time. And In Fact The Terms Of Whig And Tory Belong To Natural As Well As To Civil History. They Denote The Temper And Constitution And Mind Of Different Individuals.
Party
History
Political
The Ground Of Liberty Is To Be Gained By Inches, And We Must Be Contented To Secure What We Can Get From Time To Time And Eternally Press Forward For What Is Yet To Get. It Takes Time To Persuade Men To Do Even What Is For Their Own Good.
Men
Liberty
Libertarian
He Does Most In God's Great World Who Does His Best In His Own Little World.
Doe
World
Littles
...let Us Save What Remains; Not By Vaults And Locks Which Fence Them From The Public Eye And Use In Consigning Them To The Waste Of Time, But By Such A Multiplication Of Copies, As Shall Place Them Beyond The Reach Of Accident.
Eye
Locks
Use
Unmerited Abuse Wounds, While Unmerited Praise Has Not The Power To Heal.
Abuse
Praise
Heal
Convinced That The Republican Is The Only Form Of Government Which Is Not Eternally At Open Or Secret War With The Rights Of Mankind, My Prayers & Efforts Shall Be Cordially Distributed To The Support Of That We Have So Happily Established. It Is Indeed An Animating Thought That, While We Are Securing The Rights Of Ourselves & Our Posterity, We Are Pointing Out The Way To Struggling Nations Who Wish, Like Us, To Emerge From Their Tyrannies Also. Heaven Help Their Struggles, And Lead Them, As It Has Done Us, Triumphantly Thro' Them.
Prayer
War
Struggle
The Moral Sense Is As Much A Part Of Our Constitution As That Of Feeling, Seeing, Or Hearing.
Feelings
Religion
Liberty
I Advance It Therefore As A Suspicion Only, That The Blacks, Whether Originally A Distinct Race, Or Made Distinct By Time And Circumstances, Are Inferior To The Whites In The Endowments Of Both Body And Mind.
Race
Racism
Mind
And Botany I Rank With The Most Valuable Sciences, Whether We Consider Its Subjects As Furnishing The Principal Subsistence Of Life To Man And Beast, Delicious Varieties For Our Tables, Refreshments From Our Orchards, The Adornments Of Our Flower-borders, Shade And Perfume Of Our Groves, Materials For Our Buildings, Or Medicaments For Our Bodies.
Flower
Men
Body
A Little Rebellion Is A Good Thing.
Change
Littles
Rebellion
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.
Blood
Littles
Tempest
My Opinion Is That There Would Never Have Been An Infidel, If There Had Never Been A Priest. The Artificial Structures They Have Built On The Purest Of All Moral Systems, For The Purpose Of Deriving From It Pence And Power, Revolts Those Who Think For Themselves, And Who Read In That System Only What Is Really There.
Thinking
Religion
Atheism
Every Christian Sect Gives A Great Handle To Atheism By Their General Dogma That, Without A Revelation, There Would Not Be Sufficient Proof Of The Being Of God.
Christian
Giving
Atheism
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
The Governor Would Serve A Five-year Term And Be Ineligible For Reelection.
Years
Political
Term Limits
Good Humor Is One Of The Preservatives Of Our Peace And Tranquility.
Humor
Tranquility
Peace And Tranquility
The Greeks By Their Laws, And The Romans By The Spirit Of Their People, Took Care To Put Into The Hands Of Their Rulers No Such Engine Of Oppression As A Standing Army. Their System Was To Make Every Man A Soldier, And Oblige Him To Repair To The Standard Of His Country Whenever That Was Reared. This Made Them Invincible; And The Same Remedy Will Make Us So.
Death
Country
Military
Truth Is Certainly A Branch Of Morality And A Very Important One To Society.
Hero
Important
Society
I Suppose, Indeed, That In Public Life, A Man Whose Political Principles Have Any Decided Character And Who Has Energy Enough To Give Them Effect Must Always Expect To Encounter Political Hostility From Those Of Adverse Principles.
Character
Men
Giving
Nothing Can Now Be Believed That Is Seen In A Newspaper.
Newspapers
Truth Will Do Well Enough If Left To Shift For Herself.
Enough
Wells
Left
Certainly, No Power To Prescribe Any Religious Exercise, Or To Assume Authority In Religious Discipline, Has Been Delegated To The General Government.
Religious
Exercise
Government
He Who Is Permitted By Law To Have No Property Of His Own, Can With Difficulty Conceive That Property Is Founded In Anything But Force.
Law
Force
Difficulty
As, For The Safety Of Society, We Commit Honest Maniacs To Bedlam, So Judges Should Be Withdrawn From Their Bench, Whose Erroneous Biases Are Leading Us To Dissolution. It May Indeed Injure Them In Fame Or In Fortune; But It Saves The Republic, Which Is The First And Supreme Law.
Law
Safety
Judging
Every Generation Needs A New Revolution.
Change
Famous Inspirational
Needs
It Is Better To Have No Ideas Than False Ones.
Ideas
Aries
No Idea
The Happiness Of The Domestic Fireside Is The First Boon Of Heaven; And It Is Well It Is So, Since It Is That Which Is The Lot Of The Mass Of Mankind.
Family
Heaven
Being Thankful
Without Books, I Would Certainly Die.
Book
Dies
How Soon The Labor Of Men Would Make A Paradise Of The Earth Were It Not For Misgovernment And A Diversion Of His Energies To Selfish Interests.
Selfish
Men
Energy
The Merchants Will Manage [commerce] The Better, The More They Are Left Free To Manage For Themselves.
Civil Rights
Commerce
Manage
It Is In Our Lives And Not Our Words That Our Religion Must Be Read.
Inspirational
Life
Integrity
To Seek Out The Best [persons To Serve In The Government] Though The Whole Union, We Must Resort To The Information Which From The Best Of Men, Acting Disinterestedly And With Ther Purest Motives, Is Something Incorrect....no Duty The Executive Had To Perform Was So Trying As To Put The Right Man In The Right Place.
Men
Trying
Acting
Health Is The Requisite After Morality
Health
Morality
Agriculture Is Our Wisest Pursuit, Because It Will In The End Contribute Most To Real Wealth, Good Morals, And Happiness.
Real
Silly
Garden
All Persons Shall Have Full And Free Liberty Of Religious Opinion; Nor Shall Any Be Compelled To Frequent Or Maintain Any Religious Institution.
Religious
Liberty
Opinion
It Is To Them I Look, To The Rising Generation, And Not To The One Now In Power, For These Great Reformations I.e., Emancipation Of Slaves And Settlement Of The Virginia Constitution On A Firmer And More Permanent Basis.
Virginia
Looks
Rising
Rogueries, Absurdities And Untruths Were Perpetrated Upon The Teachings Of Jesus By A Large Band Of Dupes And Importers Led By Paul, The First Great Corrupter Of The Teaching Of Jesus.
Jesus
Teaching
Firsts
It Is In The Love Of One's Family Only That Heartfelt Happiness Is Known.
Happiness
Heartfelt
Known
The Precepts Of Philosophy And Of The Hebrew Code, Laid Hold Of Actions Only. (jesus) Pushed His Scrutinies Into The Heart Of Man, Erected His Tribunal In The Regions Of His Thoughts, And Purified The Waters At The Fountain Head.
Jesus
Philosophy
Heart
I Will Not Believe Our Labors Are Lost. I Shall Not Die Without A Hope That Light And Liberty Are On A Steady Advance.
Freedom
Believe
Light
The Variety Of Opinions Leads To Questions. Questions Lead To Truth.
Opinion
Variety
Never Trouble Another For What You Can Do Yourself
Work
Responsibility
Trouble
Nothing But Free Argument, Raillery And Even Ridicule Will Preserve The Purity Of Religion.
Atheism
Argument
Purity
In Every Government On Earth Is Some Trace Of Human Weakness, Some Germ Of Corruption And Degeneracy, Which Cunning Will Discover, And Wickedness Insensibly Open, Cultivate And Improve.
Government
Weakness
Wickedness
A Little Rebellion Now And Then Is A Good Thing. Rebellion To Tyrants Is Obedience To God. In Order To Flourish, The Tree Of Liberty Needs The Blood Of Patriots And Tyrants.
Blood
Order
Tyrants
I Never Saw An Instance Of One Or Two Disputants Convincing The Other By Argument.
Two
Saws
Argument
He [washington] Has Often Declared To Me That He Considered Our New Constitution As An Experiment On The Practicability Of Republican Government, And With What Dose Of Liberty Man Could Be Trusted For His Own Good; That He Was Determined The Experiment Should Have A Fair Trial, And Would Lose The Last Drop Of His Blood In Support Of It. And These Declarations He Repeated To Me The Oftener And The More Pointedly.
Men
Blood
Should Have
Paper Money Is Liable To Be Abused, Has Been, Is, And Forever Will Be Abused, In Every Country In Which It Is Permitted.
Country
Forever
Paper
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
I Have Ever Deemed It Fundamental For The United States Never To Take Active Part In The Quarrels Of Europe.... They Are Nations Of Eternal War.
War
Europe
United States
If, In My Retirement To The Humble Station Of A Private Citizen, I Am Accompanied With The Esteem And Approbation Of My Fellow Citizens, Trophies Obtained By The Bloodstained Steel, Or The Tattered Flags Of The Tented Field, Will Never Be Envied. The Care Of Human Life And Happiness, And Not Their Destruction, Is The First And Only Legitimate Object Of Good Government.
Retirement
Humble
Government
[my] Pillar Of Support Through Life.... I Can Say Conscientiously That I Do Not Know In The World A Man Of Purer Integrity, More Dispassionate, Disinterested, And Devoted To Genuine Republicanism; Nor Could I In The Whole Scope Of America And Europe Point Out An Abler Head.
Integrity
Men
Europe
But Of All The Views Of This Law [universal Education] None Is More Important, None More Legitimate, Than That Of Rendering The People The Safe, As They Are The Ultimate, Guardians Of Their Own Liberty.
Education
Views
Law
It Is Left... To The Juries, If They Think The Permanent Judges Are Under Any Bias Whatever In Any Cause, To Take On Themselves To Judge The Law As Well As The Fact. They Never Exercise This Power But When They Suspect Partiality In The Judges; And By The Exercise Of This Power They Have Been The Firmest Bulwarks Of English Liberty.
Exercise
Thinking
Law
The Cornerstone Of Democracy Rests On The Foundation Of An Educated Electorate.
Democracy
Foundation
Educated
If Ever There Was A Holy War, It Was That Which Saved Our Liberties And Gave Us Independence.
War
Independence
Liberty
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
As For What Is Not True, You Will Always Find Abundance In The Newspapers.
Abundance
Newspapers
True You
Agriculture, Manufactures, Commerce, And Navigation, The Four Pillars Of Our Prosperity, Are The Most Thriving When Left Most Free To Individual Enterprise.
Agriculture
Liberty
Four
Truth Is Great And Will Prevail If Left To Herself.
Truth Is
Church And State
Left
The Right To Use A Thing Comprehends A Right To The Means Necessary To Its Use, And Without Which It Would Be Useless.
Mean
Would Be
Use
I Am Satisfied, And Sufficiently Occupied With The Things Which Are, Without Tormenting Or Troubling Myself About Those Which May Indeed Be, But Of Which I Have No Evidence.
Religion
May
Evidence
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
All The Capital Employed In Paper Speculation Is Barren And Useless, Producing, Like That On A Gaming Table, No Accession To Itself, And Is Withdrawn From Commerce And Agriculture Where It Would Have Produced Addition To The Common Mass It Nourishes In Our Citizens Habits Of Vice And Idleness Instead Of Industry And Morality It Has Furnished Effectual Means Of Corrupting Such A Portion Of The Legislature As Turns The Balance Between The Honest Voters Whichever Way It Is Directed.
Mean
Agriculture
Balance
Until We Stop Harming All Other Living Beings, We Are Still Savages.
Animal
Rights
Vegetarian Diet
The Greatest Calamity Which Could Befall Us Would Be Submission To A Government Of Unlimited Powers.
Government
Would Be
Submission
There Are Two Amendments Only Which I Am Anxious For: 1. A Bill Of Rights, Which It Is So Much The Interest Of All To Have That I Conceive It Must Be Yielded...2. The Restoring Of The Principle Of Necessary Rotation, Particularly To The Senate And Presidency, But Most Of All To The Last.
Rights
Two
Principles
Where The Preamble Declares, That Coercion Is A Departure From The Plan Of The Holy Author Of Our Religion, An Amendment Was Proposed By Inserting "jesus Christ," So That It Would Read "a Departure From The Plan Of Jesus Christ, The Holy Author Of Our Religion;" The Insertion Was Rejected By The Great Majority, In Proof That They Meant To Comprehend, Within The Mantle Of Its Protection, The Jew And The Gentile, The Christian And Mohammedan, The Hindoo And Infidel Of Every Denomination.
Christian
Religious
Jesus
On Every Unauthoritative Exercise Of Power By The Legislature Must The People Rise In Rebellion Or Their Silence Be Construed Into A Surrender Of That Power To Them? If So, How Many Rebellions Should We Have Had Already?
Exercise
People
Silence
I Have Sworn Upon The Altar Of God.
Religious
Government
Faith Religion
When We Come To The Moral Principles On Which The Government Is To Be Administered, We Come To What Is Proper For All Conditions Of Society. Liberty, Truth, Probity, Honor, Are Declared To Be The Four Cardinal Principles Of Society. I Believe That Morality, Compassion, Generosity, Are Innate Elements Of The Human Constitution; That There Exists A Right Independent Of Force.
Believe
Independent
Compassion
Free Men Do Not Ask Permission To Bear Arms
Men
Arms
Libertarian
Money, Not Morality, Is The Principle Commerce Of Civilized Nations.
Pregnancy
Society
Church
A Generation May Bind Itself As Long As Its Majority Continues In Life; When That Has Disappeared, Another Majority Is In Place, Holds All The Rights And Powers Their Predecessors Once Held, And May Change Their Laws And Institutions To Suit Themselves. Nothing Then Is Unchangeable But The Inherent And Inalienable Rights Of Man.
Men
Rights
Law
I Shall Often Go Wrong Through Defect Of Judgment. When Right, I Shall Often Be Thought Wrong By Those Whose Positions Will Not Command A View Of The Whole Ground. I Ask Your Indulgence For My Own Errors, Which Will Never Be Intentional, And Your Support Against The Errors Of Others, Who May Condemn What They Would Not If Seen In All Its Parts.
Often Is
Views
Errors
The Time To Guard Against Corruption And Tyranny Is Before They Shall Have Gotten Hold Of Us. It Is Better To Keep The Wolf Out Of The Fold, Than To Trust To Drawing His Teeth And Talons After He Shall Have Entered.
Drawing
Teeth
Civil Rights
Among The Sayings And Discourses Imputed To Him (i.e. Jesus) By His Biographers, I Find Many Passages Of Fine Imagination, Correct Morality, And Of The Most Lovely Benevolence; And Others Again Of So Much Ignorance, So Much Absurdity, So Much Untruth, Charlatanism, And Imposture, As To Pronounce It Impossible That Such Contradictions Should Have Proceeded From The Same Being.
Religious
Jesus
Ignorance
Private Fortunes, In The Present State Of Our Circulation, Are At The Mercy Of Those Self-created Money Lenders, And Are Prostrated By The Floods Of Nominal Money With Which Their Avarice Deluges Us.
Self
Mercy
States
Those Who Wish To Be Ignorant And Free, Believe In Something That Never Was And Never Shall Be.
Believe
Ignorant
Wish
The Idea Is Quite Unfounded That On Entering Into Society We Give Up Any Natural Rights.
Giving Up
Rights
Ideas
Our Legislators Are Not Sufficiently Apprized Of The Rightful Limits Of Their Power; That Their True Office Is To Declare And Enforce Only Our Natural Rights And Duties, And To Take None Of Them From Us.
Rights
Office
Liberty
We Are Not To Expect To Be Translated From Despotism To Liberty In A Featherbed.
Encouragement
Difficult And Easy
Political
It Will Be Said That Great Societies Cannot Exist Without Government.
Government
Politics
Said
By Making This Wine Known To The Public, I Have Rendered My Country As Great A Service As If I Had Enabled It To Pay Back The National Debt.
Country
Food
Wine
The Only Thing A Man Can Take Beyond This Lifetime Is His Ethics.
Men
Ethics
Lifetime
The Spirit Of This Country Is Totally Adverse To A Large Military Force.
Country
Peace
Military
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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