Thomas Jefferson Quotes On Slavery:

Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, was a complex figure who famously authored the Declaration of Independence, yet owned slaves throughout his life. His views on slavery were complex and often contradictory, and his words on the subject continue to spark debate and reflection today. Here are 99 of his most notable quotes on slavery:

“There must doubtless be an unhappy influence on the manners of our people produced by the existence of slavery among us. The whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions, the most unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading submissions on the other.”
“I hold the precepts of Jesus as delivered by himself, to be the most pure, benevolent, and sublime which have ever been preached to man. I adhere to the principles of the first age; and consider all subsequent innovations as corruptions of his religion.”
“Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever.”
“The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest.”
“All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”
“I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”
“I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education.”
“The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.”
“The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time.”
“The boisterous sea of liberty is never without a wave.”
“The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.”
“I cannot live without books.”
“When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.”
“The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government, and to protect its free expression should be our first object.”
“Educate and inform the whole mass of the people… They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.”
“I have no fear that the result of our experiment will be that men may be trusted to govern themselves without a master.”
“Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching.”
“The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.”
“I’m a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.”
“I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind.”
“I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.”
“The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.”
“No man has a natural right to commit aggression on the equal rights of another, and this is all from which the laws ought to restrain him.”
“I never will, by any word or act, bow to the shrine of intolerance or admit a right of inquiry into the religious opinions of others.”
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.”
“The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others.”
“It is neither wealth nor splendor; but tranquility and occupation which give you happiness.”
“Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.”
“The true foundation of republican government is the equal right of every citizen in his person and property and in their management.”
“The man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them, inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors.”
“I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us that the less we use our power the greater it will be.”
“The only security of all is in a free press.”
“Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.”
“The care of every man’s soul belongs to himself. But what if he neglect the care of it? Well what if he neglect the care of his health or estate, which more clearly relate to the state. Will the magistrate make a law that he shall not be poor or sick? Laws provide against injury from others; but not from ourselves. God himself will not save men against their wills.”
“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”
“I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.”
“I have seen enough of one war never to wish to see another.”
“Laws made by common consent must not be trampled on by individuals.”
“The good opinion of mankind, like the lever of Archimedes, with the given fulcrum, moves the world.”
“Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.”
“The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it to be always kept alive.”
“That government is best which governs the least.”
“The moment a person forms a theory, his imagination sees in every object only the traits which favor that theory.”
“Do not bite at the bait of pleasure till you know there is no hook beneath it.”
“The most fortunate of us all in our journey through life frequently meet with calamities and misfortunes which may greatly afflict us; and to fortify our minds against the attacks of these calamities and misfortunes should be one of the principal studies and endeavours of our lives.”
“I have no fear that the result of our experiment will be that men may be trusted to govern themselves without a master.”
“When angry count to ten before you speak. If very angry, count to one hundred.”
“One man with courage makes a majority.”
“I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.”
“He who knows best knows how little he knows.”
“A little rebellion now and then is a good thing.”
“The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.”
“Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear.”
“I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”
“If God is just, I tremble for my country.”
“I am not afraid of banks. I am more afraid of the misuse of financial power than of the existence of financial power.”
“The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.”
“I have no ambition to govern men. It is a painful and thankless office.”
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”
“The advertisement is the most truthful part of a newspaper.”
“I cannot live without books.”
“The boisterous sea of liberty is never without a wave.”
“A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no just government should refuse.”
“Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching.”
“I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.”
“Happiness is not being pained in body or

A Founding Contradiction Hidden Brain NPR from www.npr.org