My confidence is that there will for a long time be virtue and good sense enough in our countrymen to correct abuses.
Interpretation
Jefferson expresses his belief in the moral integrity of the people to address and rectify societal issues.
In this quote, Thomas Jefferson conveys his confidence in the character and rationality of his fellow citizens. He suggests that, despite the presence of problems or injustices in society, there exists a fundamental goodness and sense among the people that will enable them to recognize and correct these abuses over time. This reflects a hopeful perspective on human nature and civic responsibility.
In practice
During a community meeting to address local issues, one might quote Jefferson to inspire confidence in collective action.
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.
He is armed without who is innocent within, be this thy screen, and this thy wall of brass.
I feel sometimes as though I've never grown up. And that's great, because it means there are still possibilities. Nothing's free. You pay for whatever you get. But that's OK, because you can't be cheated.
What is there in life if you do not work? There is only sensation, and there are only a few sensations— you cannot live on them. You can only live on work, by work, through work. How can you live with self-respect if you do not do things as well as lies in you?
You proceed from a false assumption: I have no ego to bruise.
Forgiving isn't something you do for someone else. It's something you do for yourself. It's saying, 'You're not important enough to have a stranglehold on me.' It's saying, 'You don't get to trap me in the past. I am worthy of a future.
I have had many successes and many failures in my life. My successes have always been for different reasons, but my failures have always been for the same reason: I said yes when I meant no.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.