Thomas Jefferson

Force is the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism.

No government ought to be without censors; and where the press is free no one ever will.

The way to silence religious disputes is to take no notice of them.

No duty the Executive had to perform was so trying as to put the right man in the right place.

An injured friend is the bitterest of foes.

A coward is much more exposed to quarrels than a man of spirit.

If God is just, I tremble for my country.

I cannot live without books.

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.

I abhor war and view it as the greatest scourge of mankind.

That government is the strongest of which every man feels himself a part.

The second office in the government is honorable and easy; the first is but a splendid misery.

We did not raise armies for glory or for conquest.

The good opinion of mankind, like the lever of Archimedes, with the given fulcrum, moves the world.

My only fear is that I may live too long. This would be a subject of dread to me.

I own that I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive.

Difference of opinion is advantageous in religion. The several sects perform the office of a Censor - over each other.

Resort is had to ridicule only when reason is against us.

I have seen enough of one war never to wish to see another.

I find that he is happiest of whom the world says least, good or bad.