[I]t seems that the Cannibals of Europe are going to eat one another again. A war between Russia and Turkey is like the battle of the kite and snake; whichever destroys the other, leaves a destroyer the less for the world.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the destructive nature of war and how it leads to mutual devastation.
Thomas Jefferson's quote suggests that conflicts between nations, like the one between Russia and Turkey, ultimately result in more harm than good. He illustrates this through the metaphor of a battle between a kite and a snake, emphasizing that even if one emerges victorious, the loss only contributes to a more dangerous world, highlighting the futility of such conflicts and the cyclical nature of violence among nations.
In practice
During a discussion on the implications of international conflicts in a speech.
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
We 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.
Demands for solidarity can quickly turn into demands for groupthink, making it difficult to express nuance.
And over your unconsecrated head you'll hear the howling wolves lament their fate and yours the livelong year.
The way you really find out about the performer's seriousness about the cause is how long they stay with it when the spotlight gets turned off. You see a lot of celebrities switch gears. They go from the environment to animal rights to obesity or whatever. That I don't have a lot of respect for.
Big? Sure. But, he can't catch mice! So for your big tree. No use? Then plant it in the wasteland - in emptiness. Walk idly around it and rest under it's shadow. No axe or saw prepares its end. No one will ever cut it down. Useless? You should worry!.
Every fact in the universe will fit every other fact in the universe. A lie never did, never will fit anything but another lie made to fit it. Never, never!
Racism is, among other things, the unearned skepticism of one group of humans joined to the unearned sympathy for another.
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