'When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe.'
'The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.'
'It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.'
'I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.'
'My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.'
'No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.'
'The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.'
'To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.'
and my favorite:
'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.'
H/T Shelly
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4 comments:
'No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.'
Oooh! Does that mean we get nuclear warheads too? The second amendment doesn't specify guns. They just say arms.
Sorry. I admire Thomas Jefferson greatly, particularly his views on religion but I still recognize argument from Authority when I see it. Thomas Jefferson like anyone else should be admired when right not right because he's admired.
Kate: You're splitting hairs. One of the most detestable things to arise in recent times is clearly faulty interpretation of our constitution based not on wanting to be clear on its intentions but to exploit loopholes for personal, often political, gain. Maybe our founding fathers weren't quite so specific with their wording because they didn't think their descendants would be quite so idiotic.
I'd also like to point out these are Thomas Jefferson quotes, not Bill of Rights quotes, and, as such, hold no legal binding on their own. I'm glad you took a basic reason and argument class in college, though, so you could wow us with your knowledge of things like argument from authority. I like that you even capitalized Authority.
Kate, are you retarded? 'arms' meant guns back then. Or more broadly, a personal weapon. Before guns, arms would of been considered a sword (men at arms) not a catapult or a siege tower. Similarly, today 'arms' means GUNS not nukes or b-2 stealth bombers.
I tend to dismiss compendia of Founding Father quotes on themes unless there are specific citations or a bibliography. There are simply too many ultra-Right-Wing and Funnymentalist writers serving up spurious quotations and fallacious history in order to advance their (usually Fascist) political agendas.
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