If I could not go to Heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that the value of companionship and social interaction outweighs the desire for individual gain or spiritual reward.
Thomas Jefferson's quote reflects the idea that personal connections and the enjoyment of shared experiences with others are more meaningful than solitary achievements, even in the pursuit of lofty goals such as entering Heaven. It emphasizes the importance of community and relationships, suggesting that a joyful experience is preferred over a solitary one, even if that means foregoing something traditionally considered desirable, like eternal paradise.
In practice
During a speech at a community gathering, when discussing the importance of relationships in our lives.
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.
The Federal Constitution forms a happy combination in this respect; the great and aggregate interests being referred to the national, the local and particular, to the state legislatures.
Loneliness is black coffee and late-night television; solitude is herb tea and soft music. Solitude, quality solitude, is an assertion of self-worth, because only in the stillness can we hear the truth of our own unique voices.
It is even harder for the average ape to believe that he has descended from man.
The Convention thought it wrong to admit in the Constitution the idea that there could be property in men.
This Universe is a wild revel of atoms, men, and stars, each one a Soul of Light and Mirth, horsed on Eternity.
When the government violates the people's rights, insurrection is, for the people and for each portion of the people, the most sacred of the rights and the most indispensible of duties.
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