Bodily decay is gloomy in prospect, but of all human contemplations the most abhorrent is body without mind.
Interpretation
The deterioration of the body is sad, but a body without an active mind is even more disturbing.
In this quote, Thomas Jefferson reflects on the inevitable decay of the human body, recognizing it as a natural and gloomy aspect of life. However, he emphasizes that the true horror lies in the prospect of a body that exists devoid of a functioning mind, suggesting that our mental faculties and consciousness are what give life its true value and meaning.
In practice
This quote could be used in a speech about the importance of mental health and well-being.
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.
Duty is heavier than a mountain, Dai Shan.' That time, Lan did flinch. How long had it been since someone had been able to do that to him with mere words? He remembered teaching that same concept to a youth out of the Two Rivers. A sheepherder, innocent of the world, fearful of the fate laid out before him by the Pattern.
The 'frankness' of people sunk below shame is a very cheap frankness.
I came to believe that my true identity goes beyond the outer roles I play. It transcends the ego. I came to understand that there is an Authentic 'I' within - an 'I Am,' or divine spark within the soul.
Then I reflect that all things happen, happen to one, precisely now. Century follows century, and things happen only in the present. There are countless men in the air, on land and at sea, and all that really happens happens to me.
Violence is a disease, a disease that corrupts all who use it regardless of the cause.
It is as absurd to argue men, as to torture them, into believing.
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