Thomas Jefferson

Every day is lost in which we do not learn something useful. Man has no nobler or more valuable possession than time.

An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens.

We confide in our strength, without boasting of it, we respect that of others, without fearing it.

Whatever enables us to go to war, secures our peace

So, ask the travelled inhabitant of any nation, in what country on earth would you rather live? — Certainly, in my own, where are all my friends, my relations, and the earliest and sweetest affections and recollections of my life. Which would be your second choice? France.

A room without books is like a life without meaning.

Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends [life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness] it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government.

On every question of construction (of the Constitution) let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit of the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed.

I am a sect by myself, as far as I know.

The greatest service which can be rendered any country is to add a useful plant to its culture. --The Fruit Hunters

The genuine and simple religion of Jesus will one day be restored: such as it was preached and practiced by Himself.