Thomas Jefferson Quotes & Sayings

“Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.”

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.”

“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

“Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation, and freedom in all just pursuits.”

“Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.”

“Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.”

“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.”

“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

“I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.”

“The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.”