Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia

Governments constantly choose between telling lies...(Spurious Quotation)

Find out whether Thomas Jefferson ever wrote, "Governments constantly choose between telling lies and fighting wars, with the end result always being the same."

A modern-day portrait of Thomas Jefferson in early 19-century attire with a speech bubble next to his head that says, "I said what?!"

Quotation: "Governments constantly choose between telling lies and fighting wars, with the end result always being the same. One will always lead to the other."

Variations: No known variations

Sources consulted:

  1. Founders Online
  2. Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series

First known appearance in print: 20071

First known appearance in print, attributed to Thomas Jefferson: see above

Comments: This quotation has not been found in the writings of Thomas Jefferson.

- Anna Berkes, 2013

Footnotes

  1. Frank O'Dette, Poor George's Almanac: A 2008 Calendar (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2007), 6.  Searched Google Books, Amazon, Access Newspaper Archive, JSTOR, Questia.