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TJE Original Title:
Spurious Quotations
- All tyranny needs to gain a foothold...
- Bad government results from too much government
- The beauty of the Second Amendment... (Quotation)
- The Bible is the source of liberty (Quotation)
- The Christian god is a three headed monster
- Democracy is nothing more than mob rule...
- The democracy will cease to exist...(Quotation)
- Dissent is the highest form of patriotism
- Do you want to know who you are?
- An educated citizenry...
- Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty
- Every man has two countries - his own and France
- Few die, none resign
- Government big enough...
- If a law is unjust...
- If we are to guard against ignorance...
- I would rather be judged by 12 farmers than 12 scholars
- In matters of style, swim with the current...
- Information is the currency of democracy
- Jewel among the states
- Making this wine vine known to the public
- Museum of our soul
- The nation was clothed with ample powers...(Quotation)
- Near-perfect republic
- No duty the Executive had to perform...
- No nation has ever yet existed or been governed without religion...
- Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude...
- The office of citizen
- Private Banks
- Some of my finest hours have been spent on my back veranda, smoking hemp...
- Spell a word only one way
- Strongest reason for the people to...keep and bear arms...
- Superstition of Christianity
- That goverment is best which governs the least. (Quotation)
- The two enemies of the people...(Quotation)
- Those who hammer their guns into plows...(Quotation)
- Tyranny is defined as that which is legal for the government
- The web of mutual obligations between generations...(Quotation)
- When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on (Quotation)
- Without God, liberty will not last (Quotation)
Comments
"Experience demands that man is the only animal which devours its own kind, for I can apply no milder term to the general prey of the rich upon the poor."
Jefferson, or not?
Hello,
I've seen the following quote attributed to Jefferson in a couple of locations online and would like to know if it is legit:
The only thing a man can take beyond this lifetime is his ethics.
Thanks
Is this a new spurious attribution? "The greatest danger to american freedom is a government that ignores the constitution."
Joshua - yes, this is spurious. I've created a page on it here, although as of yet there's not much we can say about it, other than the fact that we have no evidence that Jefferson wrote it. http://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/greatest-danger-... Perhaps more information will come to light in the future...
This is the most recent dubious Jefferson quotation I have seen on Facebook:
“When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.”
Some sources say that it actually dates to the Civil War and was a Confederate saying.
Rickey, someone else just asked about this as well - I've created a page on it here: http://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/when-injustice-b.... You are correct, it is not a Jefferson quotation.
I've read this several places, though I've found three different attributions as to where or to whom it was said... is this indeed a real quote, and to whom was it addressed? Cheers in advance!
"...or they may act by representatives, freely and equally chosen; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed [...]"
You can see this and other interesting quotes on government from TJ's letter to John Cartwright, 5 June 1824, as verified by Monticello's Retirement Series editorial staff, here: http://retirementseries.dataformat.com/Document.aspx?doc=150954899
This is from a letter to John Cartwright, 5 June 1824 - Here it is in the Lipscomb-Bergh edition of Jefferson’s writings: http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3488504;view=1up;seq=91.
I've seen this one floating around:
"In a free society with a government based on reason, it is inevitable that there will be no uniform opinion about important issues. Those accustomed to suppression and control by governmental authority see this as leading only to chaos. But a government of the people requires difference of opinion in order to discover truth and to take advantage of the opportunity that only understanding brings."
As yet I have been unable to locate an actual cite for the quotation. Even on the old UVa quotations site, it was provided with no reference, and any place I find it the people link back to that source as opposed to indicating a letter or speech or something.
The only other place I've seen anything close was a speech during executive session in the Senate on May 23, 2005, by Diane Feinstein wherein she alludes to Jefferson, but does not appear to actually quote him.