Thomas Jefferson
Traced to source
5 quotes we’ve traced to Thomas Jefferson
“Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear”
Verified“A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine”
Disputed“I sincerely believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies”
Disputed“If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered”
Disputed“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not”
DisputedNot actually Thomas Jefferson
Often misattributed to Thomas Jefferson
Famous lines widely pinned on Thomas Jefferson that we’ve traced to someone else.
“A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have”
actually Gerald R. Ford
“Dissent is the highest form of patriotism”
actually Origin unknown
“I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it”
actually Coleman Cox
“The best government is that which governs least”
actually The United States Magazine and Democratic Review (John L. O’Sullivan, ed.)
“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance”
actually John Philpot Curran (idea) & Wendell Phillips (popular form)
“When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny”
actually John Basil Barnhill
On the research bench
Commonly pinned on Thomas Jefferson — under review
4 lines flagged as pinned on Thomas Jefferson and queued for a full source trace — not yet verified.
“I have recently been examining all the known superstitions of the world, and do not find in our particular superstition one redeeming feature.”
Disputed
“My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government”
Queued
“The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is as a last resort to protect themselves against tyranny in government”
Queued
“When the people fear the government there is tyranny; when the government fears the people there is liberty”
Queued
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