"I had rather be shut up in a very modest cottage with my books, my family and a few old friends, dining on simple bacon, and letting the world roll on as it liked, than to occupy the most splendid pos..."
- Thomas Jefferson
"Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of Liberty."
"Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time, who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done, if we are always doing."
"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor bre..."
"There is nothing more unequal than the equal treatment of unequal people."
"All should be laid open to you without reserve, for there is not a truth existing which I fear, or would wish unknown to the whole world."
"I was bold in the pursuit of knowledge, never fearing to follow truth and reason to whatever results they led."
"It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself."
"And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor."
"Honesty is the first chapter of the book wisdom."