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I have no ambition to govern men it is a painful and thankless office.

Thomas Jefferson

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Thomas Jefferson
Age: 83 †
Born: 1743
Born: April 2
Died: 1826
Died: July 4
3Rd U.S. President
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More quotes by Thomas Jefferson

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Difference of opinion leads to enquiry, and enquiry to truth and I am sure...we both value too much the freedom of opinion sanctioned by our Constitution, not to cherish its exercise even where in opposition to ourselves.
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The worst day in a man's life is when he sits down and begins thinking about how he can get something for nothing.
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Men fight for freedom then they begin to accumulate laws to take it away from themselves.
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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.
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It would not be for the public good to have [a majority in Congress of one party] greater [than] two to one.
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The concentrating of powers in the same hands is precisely the definition of despotic government. It will be no alleviation that these powers will be exercised by a plurality of hands, and not by a single one.
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Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.
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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.
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May I never get too busy in my own affairs that I fail to respond to the needs of others with kindness and compassion.
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Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind.
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An injured friend is the bitterest of foes.
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The constitution of the United States is the result of the collected wisdom of our country.
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The cornerstone of democracy rests on the foundation of an educated electorate.
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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.
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It is not to the moderation and justice of others we are to trust for fair and equal access to market with out productions, or for our due share in the transportation of them but to our own means of independence, and the firm will to use them.
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[We should be] determined... to sever ourselves from the union we so much value rather than give up the rights of self-government... in which alone we see liberty, safety and happiness.
Thomas Jefferson
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For if one link in nature's chain might be lost, another might be lost, until the whole of things will vanish by piecemeal.
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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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The two principles on which our conduct towards the Indians should be founded are justice and fear. After the injuries we have done them, they cannot love us.
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I thank heaven that the 4th. of July is over. It is always a day of great fatigue to me, and of some embarrassments from improper intrusions and some from unintended exclusions.
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