Thomas Jefferson
(April 13, 1743 N.S. – July 4, 1826)
Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States (1801–1809), principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and one of the most influential founders of the United States. Major events during his presidency include the Louisiana Purchase (1803), the Embargo Act of 1807, and the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806).
A political philosopher who promoted classical liberalism, republicanism, and the separation of church and state, he was the author of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (1779, 1786), which was the basis of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. He was the eponym of Jeffersonian democracy and the founder and leader of the Democratic-Republican Party which dominated American politics for over a quarter-century and was the precursor to today's Democratic Party. Jefferson served as the second Governor of Virginia (1779–1781), first United States Secretary of State (1789–1793), and second Vice President (1797–1801).
In addition to his political career, Jefferson was an agriculturalist, horticulturist, architect, etymologist, archaeologist, mathematician, cryptographer, surveyor, paleontologist, author, lawyer, inventor, violinist, and the founder of the University of Virginia. Many people consider Jefferson to be among the most brilliant men ever to occupy the Presidency. President John F. Kennedy welcomed forty-nine Nobel Prize winners to the White House in 1962, saying, "[P]robably the greatest concentration of talent and genius in this house except for perhaps those times when Thomas Jefferson ate alone."
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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Thomas Jefferson 01 Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances. |
Thomas Jefferson 02 Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage... |
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Thomas Jefferson 03 I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and the defiance to the laws of our country. |
Thomas Jefferson 04 Educate and inform the whole mass of the people...They are the only reliance for the preservation of liberty. |
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Thomas Jefferson 07 Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you. |
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Thomas Jefferson 09 When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fear the people, there is liberty. |
Thomas Jefferson 10 Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have...the course of history shows that as government grows, liberty decreases. |
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Thomas Jefferson 12 I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government form wasting the labors of the people under the preference of taking care of them. |
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Thomas Jefferson 16 The Christian God is a being of terrific character - cruel, vindictive, capricious, and unjust. |
Thomas Jefferson 17 On the dogmas of religion, as distinguished from moral principles, all mankind, from the beginning of the world to this day, have been quarreling, fighting, burning, and torturing one another for... |
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Thomas Jefferson 18 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. |
Thomas Jefferson 19 I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Already they have raised up a monied aristocracy that has set the Government at defiance... |
