Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness.
Interpretation
Agriculture is essential for the prosperity and moral fabric of society.
In this quote, Thomas Jefferson emphasizes the importance of agriculture as a foundational activity that not only supports economic wealth but also contributes to the ethical and emotional well-being of individuals and communities. He suggests that the practice of farming and cultivation leads to sustainable prosperity and nurtures good moral values, ultimately resulting in collective happiness.
In practice
This quote could be used in a speech about sustainable farming practices at an environmental summit.
The firmness with which the (American) people have withstood the... abuses of the press, the discernment they have manifested between truth and falsehood, show that they may safely be trusted to hear everything true and false and to form a correct judgment between them.
I, place economy among the first & most important republican virtues, & public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared
βWe must make our choice between economy and liberty or confusion and servitude...If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and comforts, in our labor and in our amusements...if we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy.
Very many and very meritorious were the worthy patriots who assisted in bringing back our government to its republican tack. To preserve it in that, will require unremitting vigilance.
A nation, as a society, forms a moral person, and every member of it is personally responsible for his society.
Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.
Compassion without wisdom is dangerous. It's what enables people to support the 'underdog,' even if the underdog is evil
Haven't you learned yet that I put something more than whisky into my speeches.
The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of childhood into maturity.
You can't just hoard your ideas inside the ivory tower. You have to get them out into the world.
To mature is in part to realize that while complete intimacy and omniscience and power cannot be had, self-transcendence, growth, and closeness to others are nevertheless within one's reach.
Sometimes it is harder to deprive oneself of a pain than of a pleasure.
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