Aristocrats fear the people, and wish to transfer all power to the higher classes of society.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the fear aristocrats have of the populace and their desire to maintain power among the elite.
In this quote, Thomas Jefferson critiques the aristocracy's apprehension towards the common people, implying that the elite seek to control governance to safeguard their privileges. Jefferson's statement reflects a broader philosophical debate about power distribution and societal hierarchies, emphasizing the tension between the ruling classes and the masses.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion about the importance of democratic governance versus elitist control.
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.
You feel sometimes when you hear analysts and knowledgeable people talking about Iran that they fear so much about the survival of the regime, because deep down it's not a legitimate regime, it doesn't represent the will of the people, it's kind of morphed into kind of a military theocracy.
The first thing I'd do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act.
The vote controls everything that you do.
The United States has to move very fast to even stand still.
But if Russia is to be part of this larger zone of peace it cannot bring into it its imperial baggage. It cannot bring into it a policy of genocide against the Chechens, and cannot kill journalists, and it cannot repress the mass media.
U.S. Government propaganda tries to give the impression that aerial bombardment achieves near-surgical accuracy, so that military targets can be destroyed with minimal effect on civilians. Technical documents give a different picture.
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