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The Germ Of Dissolution Of Our Federal Government Is In The Constitution Of The Federal Judiciary; An Irresponsible Body, (for Impeachment Is Scarcely A Scare-crow) Working Like Gravity By Night And By Day, Gaining A Little Today And A Little Tomorrow, And Advancing Its Noiseless Step Like A Thief, Over The Field Of Jurisdiction, Until All Shall Be Usurped From The States, And The Government Of All Be Consolidated Into One.
-Thomas Jefferson
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The Germ Of Dissolution

Thomas Jefferson
The Germ Of Dissolution Of Our Federal Government Is In The Constitution Of The Federal Judiciary; An Irresponsible Body, (for Impeachment Is Scarcely A Scare-crow) Working Like Gravity By Night And By Day, Gaining A Little Today And A Little Tomorrow, And Advancing Its Noiseless Step Like A Thief, Over The Field Of Jurisdiction, Until All Shall Be Usurped From The States, And The Government Of All Be Consolidated Into One.
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Night
Government
Crow
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With Respect To Our State And Federal Governments, I Do Not Think Their Relations Correctly Understood By Foreigners. They Generally Suppose The Former Subordinate To The Latter. But This Is Not The Case. They Are Co-ordinate Departments Of One Simple And Integral Whole.
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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.
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We Must Not Let Our Rulers Load Us With Perpetual Debt.
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I Sincerely Wish You May Find It Convenient To Come Here. The Pleasure Of The Trip Will Be Less Than You Expect, But The Utility Greater. It Will Make You Adore Your Own Country, It's Soil, It's Climate, It's Equality, Liberty, Laws, People & Manners. My God! How Little Do My Countrymen Know.
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A Lottery Is A Salutary Instrument And A Tax... Laid On The Willing Only, That Is To Say, On Those Who Can Risk The Price Of A Ticket Without Sensible Injury, For The Possibility Of A Higher Prize.
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Nothing Can Now Be Believed Which Is Seen In A Newspaper. Truth Itself Becomes Suspicious By Being Put Into That Polluted Vehicle.
President
Newspapers
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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
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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.
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I Wish To See This Beverage Become Common Instead Of The Whiskey Which Kills Sone-third Of Our Citizens And Ruins Their Families.
Beer
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The Difficulty Is No Longer To Find Candidates For The Offices, But Offices For The Candidates.
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Bureaucracy
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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
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In A Republican Nation Whose Citizens Are To Be Led By Reason And Persuasion And Not By Force, The Art Of Reasoning Becomes Of First Importance.... Reason And Persuasion Are The Only Practicable Instruments. To Make Way For These, Free Inquiry Must Be Indulged.... Let Them Take Arms. The Remedy Is To Set Them Right As To The Facts, Pardon And Pacify Them.
Art
Citizens
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No Experiment Can Be More Interesting Than That We Are Now Trying, And Which We Trust Will End In Establishing The Fact, That Man May Be Governed By Reason And Truth.
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Life Is Of No Value But As It Brings Gratifications. Among The Most Valuable Of These Is Rational Society. It Informs The Mind, Sweetens The Temper, Chears Our Spirits, And Promotes Health.
Educational
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Spirit
Educate And Inform The Whole Mass Of The People.
People
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Gaming Corrupts Our Disposition And Teaches Us A Habit Of Hostility Against All Mankind.
Gambling
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Disposition
If We Cannot Secure All Our Rights, Let Us Secure What We Can.
Rights
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The Only Thing A Man Can Take Beyond This Lifetime Is His Ethics.
Men
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A Well Informed Citizenry Is The Best Defense Against Tyranny.
Defense
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I Have Never Been Able To Conceive How Any Rational Being Could Propose Happiness To Himself From The Exercise Of Power Over Others... An Honest Man Can Feel No Pleasure In The Exercise Of Power Over His Fellow Citizens.... Power Is Not Alluring To Pure Minds And Is Not With Them The Primary Principle Of Contest.
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Our Bills Shall Not Be Killed.
Bills
Believing That The Happiness Of Mankind Is Best Promoted By The Useful Pursuits Of Peace, That On These Alone A Stable Prosperity Can Be Founded, That The Evils Of War Are Great In Their Endurance, And Have A Long Reckoning For Ages To Come, I Have Used My Best Endeavors To Keep Our Country Uncommitted In The Troubles Which Afflict Europe, And Which Assail Us On Every Side.
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It Is Between Fifty And Sixty Years Since I Read It (i.e. The Book Of Revelations), And I Then Considered It Merely The Ravings Of A Maniac, No More Worthy Nor Capable Of Explanation Than The Incoherence Of Our Own Nightly Dreams.
Dream
Religious
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But Is An Enemy So Execrable That Tho In Captivity His Wishes And Comforts Are To Be Disregarded And Even Crossed? I Think Not. It Is For The Benefit Of Mankind To Mitigate The Horrors Of War As Much As Possible.
War
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The Commotions That Have Taken Place In America, As Far As They Are Yet Known To Me, Offer Nothing Threatening. They Are A Proof That The People Have Liberty Enough, And I Could Not Wish Them Less Than They Have. If The Happiness Of The Mass Of The People 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. 'malo Libertatem Periculosam Quam Quietem Servitutem.' Let Common Sense And Common Honesty Have Fair Play, And They Will Soon Set Things To Rights.
Honesty
Taken
Blood
...it Is Impossible, I Say, For The Human Mind Not To Believe That There Is In All This Design, Cause, And Effect Up To An Ultimate Cause-a Fabricator Of All Things, From Matter And Motion-their Preserver And Regulator While Permitted To Exist In Their Present Forms-and Their Regenerator Into New And Other Forms.
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Excessive Taxation . . . Will Carry Reason & Reflection To Every Man's Door, And Particularly In The Hour Of Election.
Reflection
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Doors
That One Hundred And Fifty Lawyers Should Do Business Together Ought Not To Be Expected.
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I Will Not Believe Our Labors Are Lost. I Shall Not Die Without A Hope That Light And Liberty Are On A Steady Advance.
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The Monopoly Of A Single Bank Is Certainly An Evil. The Multiplication Of Them Was Intended To Cure It; But It Multiplied An Influence Of The Same Character With The First, And Completed The Supplanting The Precious Metals By A Paper Circulation. Between Such Parties The Less We Meddle The Better.
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I Feel Much Alarmed At The Prospect Of Seeing General Jackson President. He Is The Most Unfit Man I Know For Such A Place.
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History Has Informed Us That Bodies Of Men As Well As Individuals Are Susceptible Of The Spirit Of Tyranny.
Men
History
Body
The Advocate Of Religious Freedom Is To Expect Neither Peace Nor Forgiveness From [the Clergy].
Religious
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The Natural Cause Of The Human Mind Is Certainly From Credulity To Skepticism.
Cynical
Mind
Causes
I Candidly Confess That I Have Ever Looked On Cuba As The Most Interesting Addition Which Could Ever Be Made To Our System Of States. The Control Which, With Florida, This Island Would Give Us Over The Gulf Of Mexico, And The Countries And Isthmus Bordering On It, As Well As All Those Whose Waters Flow Into It, Would Fill Up The Measure Of Our Political Well-being.
Country
Islands
Florida
No Government Can Continue Good But Under The Control Of The People; And . . . . Their Minds Are To Be Informed By Education What Is Right And What Wrong; To Be Encouraged In Habits Of Virtue And To Be Deterred From Those Of Vice . . . . These Are The Inculcations Necessary To Render The People A Sure Basis For The Structure And Order Of Government.
Government
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I Would Rather Have Newspapers Without A Government Than A Government Without Newspapers.
Government
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The Declaration Of Rights [bill Of Rights] Is, Like All Other Human Blessings, Alloyed With Some Inconveniences And Not Accomplishing Fully Its Object. But The Good In This Instance Vastly Outweighs The Evil.
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Besides The Comfort Of Knowlege, Every Science Is Auxiliary To Every Other.
Educational
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To Learn, You Have To Listen. To Improve, You Have To Try.
Effort
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The Most Effective Way To Find Ourselves Enslaved Will Not Be Done Openly. If Weakened We Will Sink Gradually. I Ask, Who Are The Militia? They Consist Of The Whole People, .... Except A Few Public Officers.
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To The Corruptions Of Christianity I Am Indeed Opposed; But Not To The Genuine Precepts Of Jesus Himself. I Am A Christian, In The Only Sense He Wished Any One To Be; Sincerely Attached To His Doctrines, In Preference To All Others; Ascribing To Himself Every Human Excellence; & Believing He Never Claimed Any Other.
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Experience Has Proved To Us That A Dollar Of Silver Disappears For Every Dollar Of Paper Emitted.
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What Is True Of Every Member Of The Society, Individually, Is True Of Them All Collectively; Since The Rights Of The Whole Can Be No More Than The Sum Of The Rights Of The Individuals.
Rights
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Louisiana, As Ceded By France To The United States, Is Made A Part Of The United States; Its White Inhabitants Shall Be Citizens, And Stand, As To Their Rights And Obligations, On The Same Footing With Other Citizens Of The United States, In Analogous Situations.
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May It Be To The World... To Assume The Blessings And Security Of Self-government.
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The Republican Is The Only Form Of Government Which Is Not Eternally At Open Or Secret War With The Rights Of Mankind.
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Above All Things, Lose No Occasion Of Exercising Your Dispositions To Be Grateful, To Be Generous, To Be Charitable, To Be Humane, To Be True, Just, Firm, Orderly, Courageous, Etc. Consider Every Act Of This Kind As An Exercise Which Will Strengthen Your Moral Faculties And Increase Your Worth.
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What Is It Men Cannot Be Made To Believe!
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The Purpose Of Government Is To Enable The People Of A Nation To Live In Safety And Happiness. Government Exists For The Interests Of The Governed, Not For The Governors.
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In Short I Must Confide In You To Take Such Care Of The Men Under You As An Economical Householder Would Of His Own Family, Doingevery Thing Within Himself As Far As He Can, And Calling For As Few Supplies As Possible. The Less You Depend For Supplies From This Quarter, The Less You Will Be Disappointed.
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I Never Will, By Any Word Or Act, Bow To The Shrine Of Intolerance Or Admit A Right Of Inquiry Into The Religious Opinions Of Others.
Religious
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I Do Believe That General Washington Had Not A Firm Confidence In The Durability Of Our Government. He Was Naturally Distrustful Of Men, And Inclined To Gloomy Apprehensions; And I Was Ever Persuaded That A Belief That We Must At Length End In Something Like A British Constitution, Had Some Weight In His Adoption Of The Ceremonies Of Levees, Birthdays, Pompous Meetings With Congress, And Other Forms Of The Same Character, Calculated To Prepare Us Gradually For A Change Which He Believed Possible, And To Let It Come On With As Little Shock As Might Be To The Public Mind.
Believe
Character
Men
The Example Of Changing A Constitution By Assembling The Wise Men Of The State, Instead Of Assembling Armies, Will Be Worth As Much To The World As The Former Examples We Had Give Them. The Constitution, Too, Which Was The Result Of Our Deliberation, Is Unquestionably The Wisest Ever Yet Presented To Men.
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Army
Men
War Has Been Avoided From A Due Sense Of The Miseries, And The Demoralization It Produces, And Of The Superior Blessings Of A State Of Peace And Friendship With All Mankind.
Peace
War
Blessing
Malice Will Always Find Bad Motives For Good Actions. - Shall We Therefore Never Do Good?
Action
Motive
Malice
Force Cannot Give Right.
Giving
Force
I Have A Right To Nothing Which Another Has A Right To Take Away.
In Reviewing The History Of The Times Through Which We Have Passed, No Portion Of It Gives Greater Satisfaction Or Reflection, Than That Which Represents The Efforts Of The Friends Of Religious Freedom And The Success With Which They Are Crowned.
Religious
Reflection
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Under The Law Of Nature, All Men Are Born Free, Every One Comes Into The World With A Right To His Own Person, Which Includes The Liberty Of Moving And Using It At His Own Will. This Is What Is Called Personal Liberty, And Is Given Him By The Author
Moving
4th Of July
Men
The Price Of Barbecue Is Eternal Vigilance.
Barbecue
Vigilance
Eternal
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
My Great Wish Is To Go On In A Strict But Silent Performance Of My Duty; To Avoid Attracting Notice, And To Keep My Name Out Of The Newspapers.
Names
Wish
Goes On
A Little Patience, And We Shall See The Reign Of Witches Pass Over, Their Spells Dissolve, And The People, Recovering Their True Sight, Restore Their Government To Its True Principles.
Government
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People
Those Who Don’t Read The Newspapers Are Better Off Than Those Who Do Insofar As Those Who Know Nothing Are Better Off Than Those Whose Heads Are Filled With Half-truths And Lies.
Lying
Half
Newspapers
The Best Defense Of Democracy Is An Informed Electorate.
Democracy
Defense
Electorate
It Is For The Benefit Of Mankind To Mitigate The Horrors Of War As Much As Possible.
War
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Horror
It Is My Disposition To Maintain Peace Until Its Condition Shall Be Made Less Tolerable Than That Of War Itself.
War
Political
Made
I Do Not Agree That An Age Of Pleasure Is No Compensation For A Moment Of Pain.
Pain
Age
Moments
A Wise And Frugal Government, Which Shall Restrain Men From Injuring One Another, Which Shall Leave Them Otherwise Free To Regulate Their Own Pursuits Of Industry And Improvement, And Shall Not Take From The Mouth Of Labor The Bread It Has Earned. This Is The Sum Of Good Government, And This Is Necessary To Close The Circle Of Our Felicities.
Wise
Wisdom
Men
Walking Is The Best Possible Exercise. Habituate Yourself To Walk Very Far. The Europeans Value Themselves On Having Subdued The Horse To The Uses Of Man; But I Doubt Whether We Have Not Lost More Than We Have Gained, By The Use Of This Animal.
Horse
Exercise
Animal
One Travels More Usefully When Alone, Because He Reflects More.
Single
Travel
Loneliness
The Execution Of The Laws Is More Important Than The Making Of Them.
Law
Important
Execution
Trade Liberty For Safety Or Money And You'll End Up With Neither. Liberty, Like A Grain Of Salt, Easily Dissolves. The Power Of Questioning - Not Simply Believing - Has No Friends. Yet Liberty Depends On It.
Believe
Safety
Liberty
All The World Would Be Christian If They Were Taught The Pure Gospel Of Christ!.
Christian
Would Be
World
A Noiseless Course, Not Meddling With The Affairs Of Others, Unattractive Of Notice, Is A Mark That Society Is Going On In Happiness. If We Can Prevent The Government From Wasting The Labors Of The People Under The Pretense Of Taking Care Of Them, They Must Become Happy.
Government
People
Unattractive
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
Let Your Gun Therefore Be Your Constant Companion Of Your Walks.
Gun
Second Amendment
Mind Games
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
I Concur With You Strictly In Your Opinion Of The Comparative Merits Of Atheism And Demonism, And Really See Nothing But The Latter In The Being Worshipped By Many Who Think Themselves Christians.
Christian
Thinking
Religion
I Consider The Government Of The United States As Interdicted By The Constitution From Intermeddling With Religious Institutions, Their Doctrines, Discipline, Or Exercises. This Results Not Only From The Provision That No Law Shall Be Made Respecting The Establishment Or Free Exercise Of Religion, But From That Also Which Reserves To The States The Powers Not Delegated To The United States. Certainly, No Power To Prescribe Any Religious Exercise Or To Assume Authority In Any Religious Discipline Has Been Delegated To The General Government. It Must Then Rest With The States.
Religious
Exercise
Government
When Virtue Is Banished, Ambition Invades The Minds Of Those Who Are Disposed To Receive It, And Avarice Possesses The Whole Community. The Objects Of Their Desires Are Changed; What They Were Fond Of Before Has Become Indifferent; They Were Free While Under The Restraint Of Laws, But They Would Fain Now Be Free To Act Against Law.
Ambition
Law
Community
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
When Habit Has Strengthened Our Sense Of Duties, They Leave Us No Time For Other Things; But When Young We Neglect Them And This Gives Us Time For Anything.
Giving
Habit
Neglect
The Clergy ... Believe That Any Portion Of Power Confided To Me [as President] Will Be Exerted In Opposition To Their Schemes. And They Believe Rightly: For I Have Sworn Upon The Altar Of God, Eternal Hostility Against Every Form Of Tyranny Over The Mind Of Man. But This Is All They Have To Fear From Me: And Enough, Too, In Their Opinion.
Religious
Believe
Men
All Men Are Created Equal And Have The Right To Life, Liberty, And The Pursuit Of Happiness.
Pursuit Of Happiness
Men
Liberty
I Cannot Live Without Books: But Fewer Will Suffice Where Amusement, And Not Use, Is The Only Future Object.
Book
Use
Fewer
My Reason For Fixing Them In Office For A Term Of Years, Rather Than For Life, Was That They Might Have An Idea That They Were At A Certain Period To Return Into The Mass Of The People And Become The Governed Instead Of The Governors Which Might Still Keep Alive That Regard To The Public Good That Otherwise They Might Perhaps Be Induced By Their Independence To Forget.
Years
Ideas
People
Politics, Like Religion, Hold Up The Torches Of Martyrdom To The Reformers Of Error.
Mistake
Errors
Torches
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
Without Books, I Would Certainly Die.
Book
Dies
[the Federal Convention] Is Really An Assembly Of Demigods.
Assembly
Demigods
Conventions
Christian Creeds And Doctrines, The Clergy's Own Fatal Inventions, Through All The Ages Has Made Of Christendom A Slaughterhouse, And Divided It Into Sects Of Inextinguishable Hatred For One Another.
Christian
Hatred
Religion
I Sincerely Pray That All The Members Of The Human Family May, In The Time Prescribed By The Father Of Us All, Find Themselves Securely Established In The Enjoyment Of Life, Liberty, And Happiness.
Father
Liberty
May
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.
Rights
Law
Together
Great Innovations Should Not Be Forced On Slender Majorities.
Presidential
Innovation
Majority
All Things Here Appear To Me To Trudge On In One And The Same Round: We Rise In The Morning That We May Eat Breakfast, Dinner Andsupper And To Bed Again That We May Get Up The Next Morning And Do The Same: So That You Never Saw Two Peas More Alike Than Our Yesterday And To-day.
Morning
Two
Yesterday
[states And The Federal Government Are] Coordinate Departments Of One Simple And Integral Whole... The One Is The Domestic, The Other The Foreign Branch Of The Same Government.
Simple
Government
Branches
Religious Institutions That Use Government Power In Support Of Themselves And Force Their Views On Persons Of Other Faiths, Or Of No Faith, Undermine All Our Civil Rights. Moreover, State Support Of An Established Religion Tends To Make The Clergy Unresponsive To Their Own People, And Leads To Corruption Within Religion Itself. Erecting The 'wall Of Separation Between Church And State,' Therefore, Is Absolutely Essential In A Free Society.
Religious
Wall
Rights
The Same Facts Impress Us Differently.
Facts
Impress
The Natural Aristocracy I Consider As The Most Precious Gift Of Nature For The Instruction, The Trusts, And Government Of Society. And Indeed It Would Have Been Inconsistent In Creation To Have Formed Man For The Social State, And Not To Have Provided Virtue And Wisdom Enough To Manage The Concerns Of The Society. May We Not Even Say That That Form Of Government Is The Best Which Provides The Most - For A Pure Selection Of These Natural Aristoi Into The Offices Of Government?
Men
Office
Aristocracy
The Ultimate Arbiter Is The People Of The Union.
People
Unions
Arbiter
He Alone Who Walks Strict And Upright, And Who, In Matters Of Opinion, Will Be Contented That Others Should Be As Free As Himself And Acquiesce When His Opinion Is Freely Overruled, Will Attain His Object In The End.
Politics
Matter
Opinion
I Think It Is A Great Error To Consider A Heavy Tax On Wines As A Tax On Luxury. On The Contrary, It Is A Tax On The Health Of Our Citizens.
Wine
Thinking
Errors
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
To Unequal Privileges Among Members Of The Same Society The Spirit Of Our Nation Is, With One Accord, Adverse.
Inalienable Rights
Privilege
Spirit
It Is Well Known, That On The Ohio, And In Many Parts Of America Further North, Tusks, Grinders, And Skeletons Of Unparalleled Magnitude Are Found In Great Numbers, Some Lying On The Surface Of The Earth, And Some A Little Below It ... But To Whatever Animal We Ascribe These Remains, It Is Certain That Such A One Has Existed In America, And That It Has Been The Largest Of All Terrestrial Beings.
Lying
Animal
Skeletons
I Think All The World Would Gain By Setting Commerce At Perfect Liberty.
Thinking
Perfect
Liberty
Among The Values Of Classical Learning I Estimate The Luxury Of Reading The Greek & Roman Authors In All The Beauties Of Their Originals ... I Think Myself More Indebted To My Father For This, Than For All The Other Luxuries His Cares And Affections Have Placed Within My Reach.
Father
Educational
Reading
A System Of General Instruction, Which Shall Reach Every Description Of Our Citizens, From The Richest To The Poorest, As It Was The Earliest, So Will It Be The Latest, Of All The Public Concerns In Which I Shall Permit Myself To Take An Interest.
Education
Citizens
Permit
What Country Can Preserve Its Liberties If Its Rulers Are Not Warned From Time To Time That Their People Preserve The Spirit Of Resistance? Let Them Take Arms.
Country
Freedom
Gun
A Strong Body Makes The Mind Strong. As To The Species Of Exercises, I Advise The Gun. While This Gives Moderate Exercise To The Body, It Gives Boldness, Enterprise And Independence To The Mind. Games Played With The Ball, And Others Of That Nature, Are Too Violent For The Body And Stamp No Character On The Mind. Let Your Gun Therefore Be Your Constant Companion Of Your Walks.
Being Strong
Nature
Character
The Constitution On Which Our Union Rests, Shall Be Administered By Me [as President] According To The Safe And Honest Meaning Contemplated By The Plain Understanding Of The People Of The United States At The Time Of Its Adoption - A Meaning To Be Found In The Explanations Of Those Who Advocated, Not Those Who Opposed It, And Who Opposed It Merely Lest The Construction Should Be Applied Which They Denounced As Possible.
People
Adoption
Understanding
I... [am] Convinced [man] Has No Natural Right In Opposition To His Social Duties.
Men
Civil Rights
Separation Of Church And State
The Reward Of Esteem, Respect And Gratitude [is] Due To Those Who Devote Their Time And Efforts To Render The Youths Of Every Successive Age Fit Governors For The Next.
Gratitude
Effort
Age
Timid Men Prefer The Calm Of Despotism To The Tempestuous Sea Of Liberty.
Freedom
4th Of July
Men
And For The Support Of This Declaration, With A Firm Reliance On The Protection Of Divine Providence, We Mutually Pledge To Each Other Our Lives, Our Fortunes And Our Sacred Honor.
God
Support
Independence
The Spirit Of 1776 Is Not Dead. It Had Only Been Slumbering. The Body Of The American People Is Substantially Republican.
People
Body
Spirit
The Last Hope Of Human Liberty In This World Rests On Us. We Ought, For So Dear A Stake, To Sacrifice Every Attachment & Every Enmity.
Sacrifice
Attachment
Liberty
Every Man Is Under The Natural Duty Of Contributing To The Necessities Of The Society; And This Is All The Laws Should Enforce On Him.
Men
Law
Civil Rights
So, Ask The Travelled Inhabitant Of Any Nation, In What Country On Earth Would You Rather Live? — Certainly, In My Own, Where Are All My Friends, My Relations, And The Earliest And Sweetest Affections And Recollections Of My Life. Which Would Be Your Second Choice? France.
Country
Choices
Would Be
Should [reformers] Attempt More Than The Established Habits Of The People Are Ripe For, They May Lose All And Retard Indefinitely The Ultimate Object Of Their Aim.
People
May
Revolution
The Sovereign Invigorator Of The Body Is Exercise, And Of All The Exercises Walking Is The Best.
Motivational
Fitness
Health
I Hold It That A Little Rebellion Now And Then Is A Good Thing, And As Necessary In The Political World As Storms In The Physical.
Presidential
Political
Storm
Every One Must Act According To The Dictates Of His Own Reason, And Mine Tells Me That Civil Powers Alone Have Been Given To The President Of The United States, And No Authority To Direct The Religious Exercises Of His Constituents.
Religious
Exercise
Religion
Whiskey Claims To Itself Alone The Exclusive Office Of Sot-making.
Office
Whiskey
Claims
Planting Is One Of My Great Amusements, And Even Of Those Things Which Can Only Be For Posterity, For A Septuagenary Has No Right To Count On Any Thing But Annuals.
Death
Dying
Amusement
The Cutting Of Heads Is Become So Much A La Mode, That One Is Apt To Feel Of A Morning Whether Their Own Is On Their Shoulders.
Morning
Cutting
Shoulders
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.
Men
Gun
Law
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
Responsibility Is A Tremendous Engine In A Free Government.
Responsibility
Government
Free Government
Every Generation Needs A New Revolution.
Change
Famous Inspirational
Needs
The Art Of Printing Secures Us Against The Retrogradation Of Reason And Information.
Art
Information
Civil Rights
Nothing Is More Certainly Written In The Book Of Fate Than That These People Are To Be Free. Nor Is It Less Certain That The Two Races, Equally Free, Cannot Live In The Same Government. Nature, Habit, Opinion Has Drawn Indelible Lines Of Distinction Between Them.
Wisdom
Book
Fate
The Minority Possess Their Equal Rights, Which Equal Law Must Protect, And To Violate Would Be Oppression.
Rights
Law
Majority Rule
A Candle Loses Nothing When It Lights Another Candle.
Light
Founding Fathers Democracy
Candle
I Think By Far The Most Important Bill In Our Whole Code Is That For The Diffusion Of Knowlege Among The People. No Other Sure Foundation Can Be Devised For The Preservation Of Freedom, And Happiness.
Educational
Knowledge
Thinking
All Through Your Life, You'll Be Faced With Making A Decision Between Two Things-choose The One That Is Right. If They Are Both Right, Then Choose The One That Will Make You Feel The Best About It At The End Of The Day.
Leadership
Sports
Two
No One More Sincerely Wishes The Spread Of Information Among Mankind Than I Do, And None Has Greater Confidence In It's Effect Towards Supporting Free & Good Government.
Education
Government
Wish
Nothing Can Now Be Believed Which Is Seen In A Newspaper. Truth Itself Becomes Suspicious By Being Put Into That Polluted Vehicle. The Real Extent Of This State Of Misinformation Is Known Only To Those Who Are In Situations To Confront Facts Within Their Knowledge With The Lies Of The Day.
Real
Lying
Facts
What All Agree Upon Is Probably Right; What No Two Agree In Most Probably Is Wrong.
Two
Agree Upon
Positive Atheism
I Have Given Up Newspapers In Exchange For Tacitus And Thucydides, For Newton And Euclid; And I Find Myself Much The Happier.
Newton
Euclid
Newspapers
If The Present Congress Errs In Too Much Talking, How Can It Be Otherwise In A Body To Which The People Send One Hundred And Fifty Lawyers, Whose Trade It Is To Question Everything, Yield Nothing, And Talk By The Hour?
Yield
Talking
People
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
Every Experience Deeply Felt In Life Needs To Be Passed Along. Wheather It Be Through Words And Music, Chiseled In Stone, Painted With A Brush, Or Sewn With A Needle, It Is A Way Of Reaching For Immortality.
Needs
Stones
Way
The Earth Is Given As A Common For Men To Labor And Live In.
Nature
Educational
Men
The Good Opinion Of Mankind, Like The Lever Of Archimedes, With The Given Fulcrum, Moves The World.
Moving
Public Opinion
World
Those Who Have Once Got An Ascendancy, And Possessed Themselves Of All The Resources Of The Nation, Their Revenues And Offices, Have Immense Means For Retaining Their Advantage.
Mean
Office
Advantage
I Have Ever Deemed It Fundamental For The United States Never To Take Active Part In The Quarrels Of Europe. Their Political Interests Are Entirely Distinct From Ours. Their Mutual Jealousies, Their Balance Of Power, Their Complicated Alliances, Their Forms And Principles Of Government, Are All Foreign To Us. They Are Nations Of Eternal War.
War
Europe
Government
I Deny The Power Of The General Government To Making Paper Money, Or Anything Else A Legal Tender.
Government
Paper
Deny
The Further The Departure From Direct And Constant Control By The Citizens, The Less Has The Government Of The Ingredient Of Republicanism.
Government
Citizens
Departure
I Extremely Believe In Luck, And I Discovered More Hard Work, Your Luck As Much
Believe
Hard Work
Luck
Music, Drawing, Books, Invention & Exercise Will Be So Many Resources To You Against Ennui.
Educational
Book
Exercise
I Know Of No Safe Depository Of The Ultimate Power Of The Society But The People Themselves.
Peace
War
People
Man ... Feels That He Is A Participator In The Government Of Affairs Not Merely At An Election, One Day In The Year, But Every Day.
Men
Years
One Day
People Generally Have More Feeling For Canals And Roads Than Education. However, I Hope We Can Advance Them With Equal Pace.
Education
People
Feelings
Amplification Is The Vice Of Modern Oratory. It Is An Insult To An Assembly Of Reasonable Men, Disgusting And Revolting Instead Ofpersuading. Speeches Measured By The Hour, Die By The Hour.
Men
Vices
Amplification
Legislators Invent Too Many Devices For Subdividing Property, Only Taking Care To Let Their Subdivisions Go Hand In Hand With The Natural Affections Of The Human Mind.
Government
Hands
Mind
Everything Is Useful Which Contributes To Fix The Principles And Practices Of Virtue.
Practice
Principles
Virtue
A First Attempt To Recover The Right Of Self Government May Fail, So May A Second, A Third, Etc. But As A Younger And More Instructed Race Comes On, The Sentiment Becomes More And More Intuitive, And A Fourth, A Fifth, Or Some Subsequent One Of The Ever Renewed Attempts Will Ultimately Succeed... To Attain All This, However, Rivers Of Blood Must Yet Flow, And Years Of Desolation Pass Over; Yet The Object Is Worth Rivers Of Blood And Years Of Desolation. For What Inheritance So Valuable Can Man Leave To His Posterity?
Men
Race
Self
He Wove Those Three Threads Into A Talk Ranging From Annually Spending A Week At Halloween As A Child Collecting Candy To Giving Candy To Hundreds Of Children At Halloween As An Adult; From Childhood Assistance He Received From Adults, Particularly After His Parents Divorced, To Saying I Challenge You To Be A Caring Adult In Someone's Life ... Great Times Call Forth Great Leaders.
Children
Halloween
Caring
The Protection Of Our Citizens, The Spirit And Honor Of Our Country, Require That Force Should Be Interposed To A Certain Degree.
Country
Honor
Degrees
Take Care That You Never Spell A Word Wrong. Always Before You Write A Word, Consider How It Is Spelled, And, If You Do Not Remember, Turn To A Dictionary. It Produces Great Praise To A Lady To Spell Well. To His Daughter Martha
Daughter
Writing
Caring
Ministers Of The Gospel Are Excluded [from Serving As Visitors Of The County Elementary Schools] To Avoid Jealousy From The Other Sects, Were The Public Education Committed To The Ministers Of A Particular One; And With More Reason Than In The Case Of Their Exclusion From The Legislative And Executive Functions.
Religious
School
Visitors
An Injured Friend Is The Bitterest Of Foes.
Friendship
Presidential
Bitterness
Man Was Destined For Society. His Morality Therefore Was To Be Formed To This Object. He Was Endowed With A Sense Of Right And Wrong Merely Relative To This. This Sense Is As Much A Part Of His Nature As The Sense Of Hearing, Seeing, Feeling; It Is The True Foundation Of Morality... The Moral Sense, Or Conscience, Is As Much A Part Of Man As His Leg Or Arm. It Is Given To All Human Beings In A Stronger Or Weaker Degree, As Force Of Members Is Given Them In A Greater Or Less Degree. It May Be Strengthened By Exercise, As May Any Particular Limb Of The Body.
Exercise
Men
Psychology
A Rigid Economy Of The Public Contributions And Absolute Interdiction Of All Useless Expenses Will Go Far Towards Keeping The Government Honest And Unoppressive.
Government
Useless
Honest
A Great Deal Of Love Given To A Few Is Better Than A Little To Many.
Love
Littles
Given
God Forbid We Should Ever Be Twenty Years Without Such A Rebellion.
Years
Second Amendment
Twenties
The Failure Of One Thing Is Repaired By The Success Of Another.
Success
One Thing
Peace Is Our Passion.
Peace
Passion
Do Not Bite At The Bait Of Pleasure, Till You Know There Is No Hook Beneath It.
Motivational
Truth
Freedom
Whenever You Are To Do A Thing, Though It Can Never Be Known But To Yourself, Ask Yourself How You Would Act Were All The World Looking At You, And Act Accordingly.
Life
Character
World
The World Is Indebted For All Triumphs Which Have Been Gained By Reason And Humanity Over Error And Oppression.
Errors
Humanity
Triumph
An Hereditary Aristocracy... Will Change The Form Of Our Governments From The Best To The Worst In The World.
Government
Aristocracy
World
The Greatest Calamity Which Could Befall Us Would Be Submission To A Government Of Unlimited Powers.
Government
Would Be
Submission
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
Indeed, We Need Not Look Back Half A Century To Times Which Many Now Living Remember Well, And See The Wonderful Advances In The Sciences And Arts Which Have Been Made Within That Period. Some Of These Have Rendered The Elements Themselves Subservient To The Purposes Of Man, Have Harnessed Them To The Yoke Of His Labors And Effected The Great Blessings Of Moderating His Own, Of Accomplishing What Was Beyond His Feeble Force, And Extending The Comforts Of Life To A Much Enlarged Circle, To Those Who Had Before Known Its Necessaries Only.
Life
Art
Science
To Lay Taxes To Provide For The General Welfare Of The United States, That Is To Say, 'to Lay Taxes For The Purpose Of Providing For The General Welfare.' For The Laying Of Taxes Is The Power, And The General Welfare The Purpose For Which The Power Is To Be Exercised. They Are Not To Lay Taxes Ad Libitum For Any Purpose They Please; But Only To Pay The Debts Or Provide For The Welfare Of The Union.
United States
Purpose
Taxation
No Stile Of Writing Is So Delightful As That Which Is All Pith, Which Never Omits A Necessary Word, Nor Uses An Unnecessary One.
Writing
Use
Unnecessary
Every Nation Has A Right To Govern Itself Internally Under What Forms It Pleases, And To Change These Forms At Its Own Will.
Form
Please
Nations
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
If Once The People Become Inattentive To The Public Affairs, You And I, And Congress And Assemblies, Judges And Governors, Shall All Become Wolves. It Seems To Be The Law Of Our General Nature, In Spite Of Individual Exceptions.
Law
Tyrants
People
The Man Who Reads Nothing At All Is Better Educated Than The Man Who Reads Nothing But Newspapers.
Business
Book
Reading
Commerce With All Nations, Alliance With None, Should Be Our Motto.
War
Liberty
Alliances
A Good Cause Is Often Injured More By Ill-timed Efforts Of Its Friends Than By The Arguments Of Its Enemies. Persuasion, Perseverance And Patience Are The Best Advocates On Questions Depending On The Will Of Others.
Perseverance
Effort
Enemy
My Affections Were First For My Own Country, Then, Generally, For All Mankind
Country
Patriotism
Firsts
If I Could Not Go To Heaven But With A Party, I Would Not Go There At All.
Party
Political
Heaven
What But Education Has Advanced Us Beyond The Condition Of Our Indigenous Neighbors? And What Chains Them To Their Present State Of Barbarism And Wretchedness But A Bigoted Veneration For The Supposed Superlative Wisdom Of Their Fathers And The Preposterous Idea That They Are To Look Backward For Better Things And Not Forward, Longing, As It Should Seem, To Return To The Days Of Eating Acorns And Roots Rather Than Indulge In The Degeneracies Of Civilization?
Father
Civilization
Ideas
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
Those Who Would Trade Safety For Freedom Deserve Neither.
Safety
Trade
Deserve
Specie [gold And Silver Coin] Is The Most Perfect Medium Because It Will Preserve Its Own Level; Because, Having Intrinsic And Universal Value, It Can Never Die In Our Hands, And It Is The Surest Resource Of Reliance In Time Of War.
War
Hands
Perfect
I Have Never Been Able To Conceive How Any Rational Being Could Propose Happiness To Himself From The Exercise Of Power Over Others.
Humility
Exercise
Power
I Do Not Find In Orthodox Christianity One Redeeming Feature.
Atheist
Religion
President
Perfection In Wisdom, As Well As In Integrity, Is Neither Required Nor Expected In These Agents (public Servants). It Belongs Not To Man. The Wise Know Too Well Their Weaknesses To Assume Infallibility; And He Who Knows Most, Knows Best How Little He Knows.
Wise
Integrity
Men
The Public School System: "usually A Twelve Year Sentence Of Mind Control. Crushing Creativity, Smashing Individualism, Encouraging Collectivism And Compromise, Destroying The Exercise Of Intellectual Inquiry, Twisting It Instead Into Meek Subservience To Authority." - Walter Karp, Editor Harper's Magazine 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.
Crush
Creativity
School
The Happiest Moments Of My Life Have Been The Few Which I Have Passed At Home In The Bosom Of My Family.
Family
Happiness
Success
No Society Is So Precious As That Of One’s Own Family.
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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