Cultivators of the earth are the most virtuous and independent citizens.
Interpretation
Those who work the land are seen as the most moral and self-sufficient members of society.
Thomas Jefferson's quote highlights the importance of farmers and agricultural workers in society, viewing them as virtuous individuals who are essential to both the economy and community. It suggests that there is inherent dignity and independence in agricultural labor, which contributes to a strong and moral citizenry.
In practice
This quote can be used during a speech about the importance of sustainable farming practices.
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.
Since the time of the ancient Greeks, we have always felt that there was a close relationship between a strong, vital mind and physical fitness.
Without war there are no heroes. What harm would that be? Oh, Lavinia, what a woman's question that is.
When the tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing more to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader.
Beauty is the disinterested one, without which the ancient world refused to understand itself, a word which both imperceptibly and yet unmistakably has bid farewell to our new world, a world of interests, leaving it to its own avarice and sadness.
Every visible thing in this world is put in the charge of an angel.
As long as there are sovereign nations possessing great power, war is inevitable.
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