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While The Principles Of Our Constitution Give Just Latitude To Inquiry, Every Citizen Faithful To It Will Deem Embodied Expressions Of Discontent And Open Outrages Of Law And Patriotism As Dishonorable As They Are Injurious
-Thomas Jefferson
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While The Principles Of

Thomas Jefferson
While The Principles Of Our Constitution Give Just Latitude To Inquiry, Every Citizen Faithful To It Will Deem Embodied Expressions Of Discontent And Open Outrages Of Law And Patriotism As Dishonorable As They Are Injurious
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Expression
Law
Giving
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How Much Pain They Have Cost Us, The Evils Which Have Never Happened.
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We Have The Wolf By The Ears, And We Can Neither Hold Him, Nor Safely Let Him Go. Justice Is In One Scale, And Self-preservation In The Other.
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For The Power Given To Congress By The Constitution Does Not Extend To The Internal Regulation Of The Commerce Of A State (that Is To Say, Of The Commerce Between Citizen And Citizen,) Which Remain Exclusively With Its Own Legislature; But To Its External Commerce Only, That Is To Say, Its Commerce With Another State, Or With Foreign Nations, Or With The Indian Tribes.
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It Is Surely Time For Men To Think For Themselves, And To Throw Off The Authority Of Names So Artificially Magnified.
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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.
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I Believe The States Can Best Govern Our Home Concerns, And The General Government Our Foreign Ones.
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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
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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.
Happiness
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The Lamp Of War Is Kindled Here, Not To Be Extinguished But By Torrents Of Blood.
War
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I Have Seen Enough Of One War Never To Wish To See Another.
War
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It Behooves Our Citizens To Be On Their Guard, To Be Firm In Their Principles, And Full Of Confidence In Themselves. We Are Able To Preserve Our Self-government If We Will But Think So.
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What I Value More Than All Things, Good Humor.
Good Humor
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To Take A Single Step Beyond The Text Would Be To Take Possession Of A Boundless Field Of Power.
Would Be
Fields
Steps
This Ball Of Liberty, I Believe Most Piously, Is Now So Well In Motion That It Will Roll Round The Globe. At Least The Enlightened Part Of It, For Light & Liberty Go Together.
Believe
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Liberty
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
A Society That Will Trade A Little Liberty For A Little Order Will Lose Both, And Deserve Neither.
Inspirational
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It Is My Disposition To Maintain Peace Until Its Condition Shall Be Made Less Tolerable Than That Of War Itself.
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It Is Always Better To Have No Ideas Than False Ones; To Believe Nothing, Than To Believe What Is Wrong.
Believe
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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
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It Takes Time To Persuade Men To Do Even What Is For Their Own Good.
Men
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I Have Wished To See Chemistry Applied To Domestic Objects, To Malting, For Instance, Brewing, Making Cider, To Fermentation And Distillation Generally, To The Making Of Bread, Butter, Cheese, Soap, To The Incubation Of Eggs, &c.
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Trial By Jury Is Part Of That Bright Constellation Which Has Gone Before Us And Guided Our Steps Through An Age Of Revolution And Reformation.
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To Take From One Because It Is Thought That His Own Industry And That Of His Father's Has Acquired Too Much, In Order To Spare To Others, Who, Or Whose Fathers Have Not Exercised Equal Industry And Skill, Is To Violate Arbitrarily The First Principle Of Association-the Guarantee To Every One Of A Free Exercise Of His Industry And The Fruits Acquired By It.
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If [god] Has Made It A Law In The Nature Of Man To Pursue His Own Happiness, He Has Left Him Free In The Choice Of Place As Well As Mode, And We May Safely Call On The Whole Body Of English Jurists To Produce The Map On Which Nature Has Traced For Each Individual The Geographical Line Which She Forbids Him To Cross In Pursuit Of Happiness.
Pursuit Of Happiness
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Governments Constantly Choose Between Telling Lies And Fighting Wars, With The End Result Always Being The Same. One Will Always Lead To The Other.
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He Who Knows Best Knows How Little He Knows.
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Rightful Liberty Is Unobstructed Action According To Our Will Within Limits Drawn Around Us By The Equal Rights Of Others. I Do Not Add 'within The Limits Of The Law' Because Law Is Often But The Tyrant's Will, And Always So When It Violates The Rights Of The Individual.
Wisdom
Law
Tyrants
The Field Of Knolege Is The Common Property Of All Mankind
Educational
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Democrats Consider The People As The Safest Depository Of Power In The Last Resort; They Cherish Them, Therefore, And Wish To Leave In Them All The Powers To The Exercise Of Which They Are Competent.
Exercise
People
Wish
When We Consider How Much Climate Contributes To The Happiness Of Our Condition, By The Fine Sensation It Excites, And The Productions It Is The Parent Of, We Have Reason To Value Highly The Accident Of Birth In Such A One As That Of Virginia.
Virginia
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Laws Are Made For Men Of Ordinary Understanding And Should, Therefore, Be Construed By The Ordinary Rules Of Common Sense. Their Meaning Is Not To Be Sought For In Metaphysical Subtleties Which May Make Anything Mean Everything Or Nothing At Pleasure.
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I Tremble For My Country When I Reflect That God Is Just: That His Justice Cannot Sleep Forever: That, Considering Numbers, Nature, And Natural Means Only, A Revolution Of The Wheel Of Fortune, An Exchange Of Situation, Is Among Possible Events: That It May Become Probable By Supernatural Interference! The Almighty Has No Attribute Which Can Take Side With Us In Such A Contest.
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I Look To The Diffusion Of Light And Education As The Resource Most To Be Relied On For Ameliorating The Condition, Promoting The Virtue And Advancing The Happiness Of Man.
Educational
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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
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The Functionaries Of Public Power Rarely Strengthen In Their Dispositions To Abridge It, And An Unorganized Call For Timely Amendment Is Not Likely To Prevail Against An Organized Opposition To It. We Are Always Told That Things Are Going On Well; Why Change Them? 'chi Sta Bene, No Si Mueve,' Said The Italian, 'let Him Who Stands Well, Stand Still.' This Is True; And I Verily Believe They Would Go On Well With Us Under An Absolute Monarch, While Our Present Character Remains, Of Order, Industry And Love Of Peace, And Restrained As He Would Be, By The Proper Spirit Of The People.
Believe
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When Earth Is Rich It Bids Defiance To Droughts, Yields In Abundance And Of The Best Quality.
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Freedom [is] The First-born Daughter Of Science
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Born
I Am A Christian In The Only Sense In Which He Wished Anyone To Be: Sincerely Attached To His Doctrines In Preference To All Others.
Christian
Doctrine
Preference
Of Distinction By Birth Or Badge, [americans] Had No More Idea Than They Had Of The Mode Of Existence In The Moon Or Planets. They Had Heard Only That There Were Such, And Knew That They Must Be Wrong.
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Ignorance Is A Poor Tool In A Battle Of Wits.
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Tobacco Is A Culture Productive Of Infinite Wretchedness.
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Believing With You That Religion Is A Matter Which Lies Solely Between Man And His God, That He Owes Account To None Other For His Faith Or His Worship, That The Legislative Powers Of Government Reach Actions Only, And Not Opinions, I Contemplate With Sovereign Reverence That Act Of The Whole American People Which Declared That Their Legislature Should 'make No Law Respecting An Establishment Of Religion, Or Prohibiting The Free Exercise Thereof,' Thus Building A Wall Of Separation Between Church And State.
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Without Health There Is No Happiness. An Attention To Health, Then, Should Take The Place Of Every Other Object.
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I Am Not Fully Informed Of The Practices At Harvard, But There Is One From Which We Shall Certainly Vary, Although It Has Been Copied, I Believe, By Nearly Every College And Academy In The United States. That Is, The Holding The Students All To One Prescribed Course Of Reading, And Disallowing Exclusive Application To Those Branches Only Which Are To Qualify Them For The Particular Vocations To Which They Are Destined. We Shall, On The Contrary, Allow Them Uncontrolled Choice In The Lectures They Shall Choose To Attend, And Require Elementary Qualification Only, And Sufficient Age.
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The Legislative Powers Of Government Reach Actions Only And Not Opinions.
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Government Can Do Something For The People Only In Proportion As It Can Do Something To The People.
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I Had Always Hoped That The Younger Generation Receiving Their Early Impressions After The Flame Of Liberty Had Been Kindled In Every Breast . . . Would Have Sympathized With Oppression Wherever Found, And Proved Their Love Of Liberty Beyond Their Own Share Of It.
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Liberty
Receiving
The Only Security Of All Is In A Free Press. The Force Of Public Opinion Cannot Be Resisted When Permitted Freely To Be Expressed. The Agitation It Produces Must Be Submitted To. It Is Necessary, To Keep He Waters Pure.
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We Confide In Our Strength, Without Boasting Of It, We Respect That Of Others, Without Fearing It.
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God Forbid We Should Ever Be Twenty Years Without Such A Rebellion... We Have Had Thirteen States Independent For Eleven Years. There Has Been One Rebellion. That Comes To One Rebellion In A Century And A Half, For Each State. What Country Before Ever Existed A Century And A Half Without A Rebellion.
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Common Sense Is The Foundation Of All Authorities, Of The Laws Themselves, And Of Their Construction.
Law
Common Sense
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The Patient, Treated On The Fashionable Theory, Sometimes Gets Well In Spite Of The Medicine.
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Liberty Is The Great Parent Of Science And Of Virtue; And A Nation Will Be Great In Both In Proportion As It Is Free.
Freedom
4th Of July
Parent
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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Jesus
Believe
The Government Created By This Compact Was Not Made The Exclusive Or Final Judge Of The Extent Of The Powers Delegated To Itself; Since That Would Have Made Its Discretion, And Not The Constitution, The Measure Of Its Powers.
Government
Judging
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We Have No Right To Prejudice Another In His Civil Enjoyments Because He Is Of Another Church.
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Prejudice
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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.
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The Country Is Headed Toward A Single And Splendid Government Of An Aristocracy Founded On Banking Institutions And Moneyed Incorporations And If This Tendency Continues It Will Be The End Of Freedom And Democracy, The Few Will Be Ruling...i Hope We Shall...crush In Its Birth The Aristocracy Of Our Moneyed Corporations Which Dare Already To Challenge Our Government To Trial And Bid Defiance To The Laws Of Our Country. I Sincerely Believe That Banking Establishments Are More Dangerous Than Standing Armies.
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Compulsion In Religion Is Distinguished Peculiarly From Compulsion In Every Other Thing. ...i Cannot Be Saved By A Worship I Disbelieve And Abhor.
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Compulsion
Distinguished
We See The Wisdom Of Solon's Remark, That No More Good Must Be Attempted Than The Nation Can Bear.
Bears
Remarks
Nations
It Has Been A Source Of Great Pain To Me To Have Met With So Many Among [my] Opponents Who Had Not The Liberality To Distinguish Between Political And Social Opposition; Who Transferred At Once To The Person, The Hatred They Bore To His Political Opinions.
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You See I Am An Enthusiast On The Subject Of The Arts.
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If There Be Any Among Us Who Wish To Dissolve The Union Or To Change Its Republican Form, Let Them Stand Undisturbed, As Monuments Of The Safety With Which Error Of Opinion May Be Tolerated Where Reason Is Left Free To Combat It.
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Natural Rights [are] The Objects For The Protection Of Which Society Is Formed And Municipal Laws Established.
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Protection
A Democratic Society Depends Upon An Informed And Educated Citizenry.
Library
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Democratic
The Power Of Making War Often Prevents It, And In Our Case Would Give Efficacy To Our Desire Of Peace.
War
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When Angry Count To Ten Before You Speak. If Very Angry, Count To One Hundred.
Leadership
Anger
Speak
The Natural Progress Of Things Is For Liberty To Yield And Government To Gain Ground.
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A Truth Now And Then Projecting Into The Ocean Of Newspaper Lies Serves Like Headlands To Correct Our Course. Indeed, My Scepticism As To Everything I See In A Newspaper Makes Me Indifferent Whether I Ever See One.
Lying
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To History Therefore I Must Refer For Answer, In Which It Would Be An Unhappy Passage Indeed, Which Should Shew By What Fatal Indulgence Of Subordinate Views And Passions, A Contest For An Atom Had Defeated Well Founded Prospects Of Giving Liberty To Half The Globe.
Passion
Views
Giving
They Are Exactly The Persons Who Are To Succeed To The Government Of Our Country And To Rule Its Future Enmities, Its Friendships And Fortunes.
Country
Government
Succeed
Blest Is That Nation Whose Silent Course Of Happiness Furnishes Nothing For History To Say.
Silent
Courses
Nations
Pride Costs Us More Than Hunger, Thirst, And Cold.
Pride
Cost
Hunger And Thirst
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
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The Rational And Peaceable Instrument Of Reform, The Suffrage Of The People.
People
Voting
Reform
It Would Not Be For The Public Good To Have [a Majority In Congress Of One Party] Greater [than] Two To One.
Party
Two
Majority
No Other Depositories Of Power [but The People Themselves] Have Ever Yet Been Found, Which Did Not End In Converting To Their Own Profit The Earnings Of Those Committed To Their Charge.
People
Earning
Ends
The Judiciary Of The United States Is The Subtle Corps Of Sappers And Miners Constantly Working Under Ground To Undermine The Foundations Of Our Confederated Fabric. They Are Construing Our Constitution From A Co-ordination Of A General And Special Government To A General And Supreme One Alone.
Government
Special
Foundation
In The Fevered State Of Our Country, No Good Can Ever Result From Any Attempt To Set One Of These Fiery Zealots To Rights, Either In Fact Or Principle. They Are Determined As To The Facts They Will Believe, And The Opinions On Which They Will Act. Get By Them, Therefore, As You Would By An Angry Bull; It Is Not For A Man Of Sense To Dispute The Road With Such An Animal.
Country
Believe
Men
Every Man, And Every Body Of Men On Earth, Possesses The Right Of Self-government. They Receive It With Their Being From The Hand Of Nature. Individuals Exercise It By Their Single Will; Collections Of Men By That Of Their Majority; For The Law Of The Majority Is The Natural Law Of Every Society Of Men.
Change
Exercise
Men
Men Of High Learning And Abilities Are Few In Every Country; And By Taking In Those Who Are Not So, The Able Part Of The Body Have Their Hands Tied By The Unable.
Country
Men
Hands
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
May [our Declaration Of Independence] Be To The World, What I Believe It Will Be (to Some Parts Sooner, To Others Later, But Finally To All), The Signal Of Arousing Men To Burst The Chains Under Which Monkish Ignorance And Superstition Had Persuaded Them To Bind Themselves, And To Assume The Blessings And Security Of Self-government... All Eyes Are Opened, Or Opening, To The Rights Of Man.
Believe
Eye
Ignorance
Though [the People] May Acquiesce, They Cannot Approve What They Do Not Understand.
People
May
Peace With All Nations, And The Right Which That Gives Us With Respect To All Nations, Are Our Object.
Peace
Giving
Objects
The Man Who Stops Advertising To Save Money Is Like The Man Who Stops The Clock To Save Time.
Men
Advertising
Saving Money
In A Government Bottomed On The Will Of All, The... Liberty Of Every Individual Citizen Becomes Interesting To All.
Freedom
4th Of July
Government
If The Children Are Untaught, Their Ignorance And Vices Will In Future Life Cost Us Much Dearer In Their Consequences Than It Would Have Done In Their Correction By A Good Education.
Life
Education
Children
The Steady Character Of Our Countrymen Is A Rock To Which We May Safely Moor; And Notwithstanding The Efforts Of The Papers To Disseminate Early Discontents, I Expect That A Just, Dispassionate And Steady Conduct, Will At Length Rally To A Proper System The Great Body Of Our Country. Unequivocal In Principle, Reasonable In Manner, We Shall Be Able I Hope To Do A Great Deal Of Good To The Cause Of Freedom & Harmony.
Country
Character
Rocks
If Any State In The Union Will Declare That It Prefers Separation... To A Continuance In Union... I Have No Hesitation In Saying, 'let Us Separate.
Unions
Separation
States
It Is Wonderful How Much May Be Done If We Are Always Doing.
Done
Laziness
May
Experience Has Proved To Us That A Dollar Of Silver Disappears For Every Dollar Of Paper Emitted.
Dollars
Paper
Silver
[i]t Seems That The Cannibals Of Europe Are Going To Eat One Another Again. A War Between Russia And Turkey Is Like The Battle Of The Kite And Snake; Whichever Destroys The Other, Leaves A Destroyer The Less For The World.
War
Russia
Europe
I Rejoice When I Hear Of Young Men Of Virtue And Talents, Worthy To Receive And Likely To Preserve The Splendid Inheritance Of Self- Government, Which We Have Acquired And Shaped For Them.
Men
Self
Inheritance
There Is A Debt Of Service Due From Every Man To His Country, Proportioned To The Bounties Which Nature And Fortune Have Measured To Him.
Country
Men
Debt
The Clergy Believe That Any Power Confided In Me Will Be Exerted In Opposition To Their Schemes, And They Believe Rightly.
Believe
Clergy
Schemes
Required To Be Constantly Recumbent I Write Slowly And With Difficulty.... Weakened In Body By Infirmities And In Mind By Age, Now Far Gone Into My 83rd Year, Reading One Newspaper Only And Forgetting Immediately What I Read.
Reading
Writing
Years
Health Is Value Greater Than Studying.
Study
Greater
Values
The Greatest Calamity Which Could Befall Us Would Be Submission To A Government Of Unlimited Powers.
Government
Would Be
Submission
A Pirate Spreading Misery And Ruin Over The Face Of The Ocean
Ocean
Pirate
Insulting
Very Many And Very Meritorious Were The Worthy Patriots Who Assisted In Bringing Back Our Government To Its Republican Tack. To Preserve It In That, Will Require Unremitting Vigilance.
Government
Revolution
Republican
The Greatest Service Which Can Be Rendered Any Country Is To Add A Useful Plant To Its Culture. --the Fruit Hunters
Country
Garden
Hunters
The Contest Is Not Between Us And Them, But Between Good And Evil, And If Those Who Would Fight Evil Adopt The Ways Of Evil, Evil Wins.
Fighting
Winning
Evil
No Society Is So Precious As That Of One’s Own Family.
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
Mind
Spirit
Be A Listener Only, Keep Within Yourself, And Endeavor To Establish With Yourself The Habit Of Silence, Especially In Politics.
Silence
Political
Politics
I Trust There Is Not A Young Man Now Living In The United States Who Will Not Die A Unitarian.
Men
Atheism
United States
A Government Regulating Itself By What Is Wise And Just For The Many, Uninfluenced By The Local And Selfish Views Of The Few Who Direct Their Affairs, Has Not Been Seen, Perhaps, On Earth. Or If It Existed For A Moment At The Birth Of Ours, It Would Not Be Easy To Fix The Term Of Its Continuance. Still, I Believe It Does Exist Here In A Greater Degree Than Anywhere Else; And For Its Growth And Continuance... I Offer Sincere Prayers.
Wise
Prayer
Selfish
The Opinions Of Men Should Not Be The Object Of Any Government. Our Civil Rights Are No More Dependent On Our Religious Beliefs Than They Are Dependent Upon Our Thoughts About Geometry Or Physics!
Religious
Men
Rights
It Is Reasonable That Everyone Who Asks Justice Should Do Justice
Peace
Integrity
War
Paul Was The First Corrupter Of The Doctrines Of Jesus.
Jesus
Historical
Doctrine
Independence Can Be Trusted Nowhere But With The People In Mass. They Are Inherently Independent Of All But Moral Law.
Independent
Law
People
I Find That The Harder I Work, The More Luck I Seem To Have.
Inspirational
Success
Determination
Where Thought Is Free In Its Range, We Need Never Fear To Hazard What Is Good In Itself.
Hazards
Needs
Politics
The Banks Themselves Were Doing Business On Capitals Three-fourths Of Which Were Fictitious. This Fictitious Capital... Is Now To Be Lost, And To Fall On Somebody; It Must Take On Those Who Have Property To Meet It, And Probably On The Less Cautious Part, Who, Not Aware Of The Impending Catastrophe, Have Suffered Themselves To Contract, Or To Be In Debt, And Must Now Sacrifice Their Property Of A Value Many Times The Amount Of The Debt. We Have Been Truly Sowing The Wind, And Are Now Reaping The Whirlwind.
Wisdom
Fall
Sacrifice
Give Up Money, Give Up Fame, Give Up Science, Give The Earth Itself And All It Contains, Rather Than Do An Immoral Act.
Giving Up
Earth
Morality
The Opinions Of Men Are Not The Object Of Civil Government, Nor Under Its Jurisdiction; That To Suffer The Civil Magistrate To Intrude His Powers Into The Field Of Opinion And To Restrain The Profession Or Propagation Of Principles On Supposition Of Their Ill Tendency Is A Dangerous Falacy, Which At Once Destroys All Religious Liberty...
Religious
Men
Suffering
There Is A Natural Aristocracy Among Men. The Grounds Of This Are Virtue And Talents.
Short Life
Men
Hair
I Have Ever Judged Of The Religion Of Others By Their Lives. For It Is In Our Lives, And Not From Our Works, That Our Religion Must Be Read.
Spirituality
Our Lives
Judged
The Selfish Spirit Of Commerce, Which Knows No Country, And Feels No Passion Or Principle But That Of Gain.
Country
Business
Selfish
Our Country Is Too Large To Have All Its Affairs Directed By A Single Government. Public Servants At Such A Distance, And From Under The Eye Of Their Constituents, Must, From The Circumstance Of Distance, Be Unable To Administer And Overlook All The Details Necessary For The Good Government Of The Citizens; And The Same Circumstance, By Rendering Detection Impossible To Their Constituents, Will Invite Public Agents To Corruption, Plunder And Waste.
Country
Distance
Eye
The Mass Of The Citizens Is The Safest Depositary Of Their Own Rights.
Rights
Citizens
Mass
Our Business Is To Have Great Credit And To Use It Little.
Use
Credit
Littles
Were I To Commence My Administration Again, The First Question I Would Ask Respecting A Candidate Would Be, Does He Use Ardent Spirits?
Doe
Would Be
Use
I Think Myself That We Have More Machinery Of Government Than Is Necessary, Too Many Parasites Living On The Labor Of The Industrious. Government Big Enough To Supply Everything You Need Is Big Enough To Take Everything You Have ... The Course Of History Shows That As A Government Grows, Liberty Decreases. The Two Enemies Of The People Are Criminals And Government, So Let Us Tie The Second Down With The Chains Of The Constitution So The Second Will Not Become The Legalized Version Of The First.
Thinking
Government
Two
Neither Pagan Nor Mahamedan Nor Jew Ought To Be Excluded From The Civil Rights Of The Commonwealth Because Of His Religion. -quoting John Locke's Argument.
Rights
Argument
Pagan
Does The Government Fear Us? Or Do We Fear The Government? When The People Fear The Government, Tyranny Has Found Victory. The Federal Government Is Our Servant, Not Our Master!
Government
People
Southern
[t]o Preserve The Republican Form And Principles Of Our Constitution And Cleave To The Salutary Distribution Of Powers Which That [the Constitution] Has Established . . . Are The Two Sheet Anchors Of Our Union. If Driven From Either, We Shall Be In Danger Of Foundering.
Distribution Of Power
Anchors
Two
A Little Revolution Is A Good Thing.
Littles
Revolution
Good Things
Truth Will Do Well Enough If Left To Shift For Herself. She Seldom Has Received Much Aid From The Power Of Great Men To Whom She Is Rarely Known And Seldom Welcome. She Has No Need Of Force To Procure Entrance Into The Minds Of Men.
Men
Mind
Needs
Ignorance And Bigotry, Like Other Insanities, Are Incapable Of Self-government.
Ignorance
Government
Self
An Injured Friend Is The Bitterest Of Foes.
Friendship
Presidential
Bitterness
The Only Orthodox Object Of The Institution Of Government Is To Secure The Greatest Degree Of Happiness Possible To The General Mass Of Those Associated Under It.
Government
Degrees
Politics
Wake Up, Dream, Have The Ambition To Do The Things You Have Always Dreamed Of, Go Farther Than Any Man Has Ever Been Before, Go As Far As It Is Possible For Any Man To Go, What Have You Got To Lose? Nothing Can Stop The Man With The Right Mental Attitude From Achieving His Goal; Nothing On Earth Can Help The Man With The Wrong Mental Attitude.
Dream
Attitude
Ambition
I Am A Real Christian, That Is To Say, A Cisciple Of The Doctrines Of Jesus. I Have Little Doubt That Our Whole Country Will Soon Be Rallied To The Unity Of Our Creator.
Christian
Country
Jesus
Students Of Reading, Writing And Common Arithmetick . . . Graecian [greek], Roman, English And American History . . . Should Be Rendered . . . Worthy To Receive, And Able To Guard The Sacred Deposit Of The Rights And Liberties Of Their Fellow Citizens.
Education
Reading
Writing
My Confidence Is That There Will For A Long Time Be Virtue And Good Sense Enough In Our Countrymen To Correct Abuses.
Long
Abuse
Virtue
Good Humor Is One Of The Preservatives Of Our Peace And Tranquility.
Humor
Tranquility
Peace And Tranquility
I Sincerely Believe That Banking Establishments Are More Dangerous Than Standing Armies, And That The Principle Of Spending Money To Be Paid By Posterity, Under The Name Of Funding, Is But Swindling Futurity On A Large Scale.
Believe
Army
Names
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
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
The Cost Of Freedom Is Eternal Vigilance
Cost
Vigilance
Eternal
To Be Really Useful, We Must Keep Pace With The State Of Society, And Not Dishearten It By Attempts At What Its Population, Means, Or Occupations Will Fail In Attempting.
Mean
Population
Pace
Were It Left To Me To Decide Whether We Should Have A Government Without Newspapers, Or Newspapers Without A Government, I Should Not Hesitate A Moment To Prefer The Latter. But I Should Mean That Every Man Should Receive Those Papers And Be Capable Of Reading Them.
Reading
Mean
Men
The Elective Franchise, If Guarded As The Ark Of Our Safety, Will Peaceably Dissipate All Combinations To Subvert A Constitution, Dictated By The Wisdom, And Resting On The Will Of The People.
People
Safety
Voting
The Rights Of The People To The Exercise And Fruits Of Their Own Industry Can Never Be Protected Against The Selfishness Of Rulers Not Subject To Their Control At Short Periods.
Exercise
Rights
People
The Same Prudence Which In Private Life Would Forbid Our Paying Our Own Money For Unexplained Projects, Forbids It In The Dispensation Of The Public Moneys.
Political
Politics
Projects
...is The Spirit Of The People An Infallible, A Permanent Reliance? ...the Spirit Of The Times May Alter, Will Alter. Our Rulers Will Become Corrupt, Our People Careless.
People
May
Politics
To Every Obstacle Oppose Patience, Perseverance And Soothing Language.
Perseverance
Adversity
Obstacles
The Idea Is Quite Unfounded That On Entering Into Society We Give Up Any Natural Rights.
Giving Up
Rights
Ideas
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
Confidence Is Everywhere The Parent Of Despotism. Free Government Is Founded In Jealousy, And Not In Confidence.
Government
Parent
Libertarian
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
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
We Must Not Let Our Rulers Load Us With Perpetual Debt.
Government Welfare
Government Debt
Historical
[oppose] With Manly Firmness [any] Invasions On The Rights Of The People.
Freedom
Rights
People
By... [selecting] The Youths Of Genius From Among The Classes Of The Poor, We Hope To Avail The State Of Those Talents Which Nature Has Sown As Liberally Among The Poor As The Rich, But Which Perish Without Use If Not Sought For And Cultivated.
Class
Genius
Use
I Do Love This People [the French] With All My Heart, And Think That With A Better Religion And A Better Form Of Government And Their Present Governors Their Condition And Country Would Be Most Enviable.
Country
Heart
Thinking
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
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
It Is A Wise Rule And Should Be Fundamental In A Government Disposed To Cherish Its Credit, And At The Same Time To Restrain The Use Of It Within The Limits Of Its Faculties, "never To Borrow A Dollar Without Laying A Tax In The Same Instant For Paying The Interest Annually, And The Principal Within A Given Term; And To Consider That Tax As Pledged To The Creditors On The Public Faith."
Wise
Government
Dollars
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.
Art
Liberty
Citizens
Whenever There Are In Any Country Uncultivated Lands And Unemployed Poor, It Is Clear That The Laws Of Property Have Been So Far Extended As To Violate Natural Right. The Earth Is Given As A Common Stock For Man To Labor And Live On. The Small Landowners Are The Most Precious Part Of A State
Country
Business
Men
One Never Really Knows How Much One Has Been Touched By A Place Until One Has Left It.
History
Historical
Humour
The Question Whether The Judges Are Invested With Exclusive Authority To Decide On The Constitutionality Of A Law Has Been Heretofore A Subject Of Consideration With Me In The Exercise Of Official Duties. Certainly There Is Not A Word In The Constitution Which Has Given That Power To Them More Than To The Executive Or Legislative Branches.
Exercise
Law
Judging
It Should Be Our Endeavor To Cultivate The Peace And Friendship Of Every Nation . . . . Our Interest Will Be To Throw Open The Doors Of Commerce, And To Knock Off All Its Shackles, Giving Perfect Freedom To All Persons For The Vent To Whatever They May Choose To Bring Into Our Ports, And Asking The Same In Theirs.
Doors
Giving
Perfect
Well Aware That The Opinions And Belief Of Men Depend Not On Their Own Will, But Follow Involuntarily The Evidence Proposed To Their Minds; That Almighty God Hath Created The Mind Free, And Manifested His Supreme Will That Free It Shall Remain By Making It Altogether Insusceptible Of Restraint; That All Attempts To Influence It By Temporal Punishments, Or Burthens, Or By Civil Incapacitations, Tend Only To Beget Habits Of Hypocrisy And Meanness, And Are A Departure From The Plan Of The Holy Author Of Our Religion.
Religious
Men
Hypocrisy
It Is Error Alone Which Needs The Support Of Government. Truth Can Stand By Itself.
Religious
Truth
Freedom
Educate And Inform The Whole Mass Of The People.
People
Liberty
Mass
I Am Not Among Those Who Fear The People. They, And Not The Rich, Are Our Dependence For Continued Freedom.
Government Debt
People
Revolution
Without Society, And A Society To Our Taste, Men Are Never Contented.
Men
Society
Taste
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
On The Subject Of The History Of The American Revolution, You Ask Who Shall Write It? Who Can Write It? And Who Will Ever Be Able To Write It? Nobody, Except Merely Its External Facts... All Its Councils, Designs And Discussions Having Been Conducted By Congress [behind] Closed Doors - And No Members, As Far As I Know, Having Even Made Notes Of Them. These, Which Are The Life And Soul Of History, Must Forever Be Unknown.
Writing
Doors
Forever
We Act Not For Ourselves But For The Whole Human Race. The Event Of Our Experiment Is To Show Whether Man Can Be Trusted With Self - Government.
Men
Race
Self
Everyone Must Act According To The Dictates Of His Own Reason.
Religion
Liberty
Politics
The True Fountains Of Evidence [are] The Head And Heart Of Every Rational And Honest Man. It Is There Nature Has Written Her Moral Laws, And Where Every Man May Read Them For Himself.
Heart
Men
Law
Nothing Is So Disgusting To Our Sex As Want Of Cleanliness And Delicacy In Yours.
Sex
Delicacy
Want
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
A Government Is Republican In Proportion As Every Member Composing It Has His Equal Voice In The Direction Of Its Concerns, Not Indeed In Person, Which Would Be Impracticable Beyond The Limits Of A City Or Small Township, But By Representatives Chosen By Himself And Responsible To Him At Short Periods.
Equality
Cities
Voice
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
Truth And Reason Are Eternal. They Have Prevailed. And They Will Eternally Prevail; However, In Times And Places They May Be Overborne For A While By Violence, Military, Civil, Or Ecclesiastical.
Military
May
Politics
If We Suffer Ourselves To Be Frightened From Our Post By Mere Lying, Surely The Enemy Will Use That Weapon; For What One So Cheap To Those Of Whose System Of Politics Morality Makes No Part?
Lying
Enemy
Suffering
The Most Fortunate Of Us, In Our Journey Through Life, Frequently Meet With Calamities And Misfortunes Which May Greatly Afflict Us; And, To Fortify Our Minds Against The Attacks Of These Calamities And Misfortunes, Should Be One Of The Principal Studies And Endeavors Of Our Lives.
Philosophy
Inspiration
Journey
Can One Generation Bind Another, And All Others, In Succession Forever? I Think Not. The Creator Has Made The Earth For The Living, Not The Dead. Rights And Powers Can Only Belong To Persons, Not To Things, Not To Mere Matter Endowed With Will...nothing Is Unchangeable But The Inherent And Unalienable Rights Of Man.
Men
Thinking
Rights
The Eyes Of Our Citizens Are Not Sufficiently Open To The True Cause Of Our Distress. They Ascribe Them To Everything But Their True Cause, The Banking System
Eye
Citizens
Banking
I Could Think Of No Worse Example For Nations Abroad, Who For The First Time Were Trying To Put Free Electoral Procedures Into Effect, Than That Of The United States Wrangling Over The Results Of Our Presidential Election, And Even Suggesting That The Presidency Itself Could Be Stolen By Thievery At The Ballot Box.
Thinking
America
Presidential
The Constitution Is A Mere Thing Of Wax In The Hands Of The Judiciary, Which They May Twist And Shape Into Any Form They Please.
Patriotic
Hands
Twists
Should Look Forward To A Time, And That Not A Distant One, When Corruption In This, As In The Country From Which We Derive Our Origin, Will Have Seized The Heads Of Government, And Be Spread By Them Through The Body Of The People; When They Will Purchase The Voices Of The People, And Make Them Pay The Price.
Country
Pay The Price
Government
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
If Your Letters Are As Long As The Bible, They Will Appear Short To Me. Only Let Them Be Brim Full Of Affection.
Long
Letters
Affection
Mankind Are More Disposed To Suffer, While Evils Are Sufferable, Than To Right Themselves By Abolishing The Forms To Which They Are Accustomed.
Evil
Suffering
Unalienable Rights
Yet The Hour Of Emancipation Is Advancing ... This Enterprise Is For The Young; For Those Who Can Follow It Up, And Bear It Through To It's Consummation. It Shall Have All My Prayers, And These Are The Only Weapons Of An Old Man.
Prayer
Men
President
Chemistry Is Yet, Indeed, A Mere Embryon. Its Principles Are Contested; Experiments Seem Contradictory; Their Subjects Are So Minute As To Escape Our Senses; And Their Result Too Fallacious To Satisfy The Mind. It Is Probably An Age Too Soon To Propose The Establishment Of A System.
Science
Mind
Age
It Look Like The Lord Just Work For Wite Folks Cause Ever Sens I Wasn Nothin But A Litle Boy I Been On My On Haulin Water To The Fiel On That Ol Water Cart Wit All Them Dime Bukets An That Dipper Just Hittin An Old Dorthy Just Trottin And Trottin An Me Up Their Hittin Her Wit That Rope.
Boys
Water
Dying
As Government Grows, Freedom Recedes.
Government
Grows
The Sheep Are Happier Of Themselves, Than Under The Care Of Wolves.
Sheep
Government
Care
He Who Made Us Would Have Been A Pitiful Bungler, If He Had Made The Rules Of Our Moral Conduct A Matter Of Science. For One Man Of Science, There Are Thousands Who Are Not. What Would Have Become Of Them? 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.
Men
Religion
Matter
If Virtuous, The Government Need Not Fear The Fair Operation Of Attack And Defense. Nature Has Given To Man No Other Means Of Sifting The Truth, Either In Religion, Law, Or Politics.
Mean
Men
Law
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
In Every Country And In Every Age, The Priest Has Been Hostile To Liberty.
Inspirational
Life
Birthday
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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