Do not bite at the bait of pleasure, till you know there is no hook beneath it.
Interpretation
Be wary of tempting pleasures that may come with hidden risks.
This quote by Thomas Jefferson warns against rushing into pleasurable situations without fully understanding the potential consequences. It encourages critical thinking and caution in the face of temptations that might seem attractive but could lead to negative outcomes.
In practice
During a discussion about financial investments, one might use this quote to caution against get-rich-quick schemes.
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.
Our experience over the last 20 years has shown that indeed people must themselves become their own liberators. You cannot wait for somebody else to come and rescue you.
As I express my gratitude, I become more deeply aware of it. And the greater my awareness, the greater my need to express it. What happens here is a spiraling ascent, a process of growth in ever expanding circles around a steady center.
Every human being is entitled to courtesy and consideration. Constructive criticism is not only to be expected but sought.
Esther, however, was the only woman who understood one very simple thing: in order to be able to find her, I first had to find myself.
Most people don't see what's going on around them. That's my principal message to writers: 'For God's sake, keep your eyes open. Notice what's going on around you.'
Attention is the vital thing and there is no tension in attention. It just happens to be a similar word. It's not concentration or straining. Attention has the openness of a young child not yet dominated by the conceptual mind.
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