I wish I was a despot that I might save the noble, the beautiful trees that are daily falling sacrifice to the cupidity of their owners, or the necessity of the poor. The unnecessary felling of a tree, perhaps the growth of centuries, seems to me a crime little short of murder.
Interpretation
The quote expresses a deep concern for the destruction of trees and nature, equating their unnecessary felling to a crime.
In this quote, Thomas Jefferson laments the loss of trees due to human greed and the struggles of poverty. He feels that if he held absolute power, he would take action to protect these noble living beings from being cut down for selfish reasons or necessity. Jefferson's passionate stance highlights the importance of environmental conservation and reflects an ethical viewpoint that sees the destruction of nature as a grave injustice.
In practice
In a speech advocating for tree conservation, this quote can emphasize the importance of protecting our natural resources.
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.
We see God face to face every hour, and know the savor of Nature.
Compared with me, a tree is immortal.
Momo listened to everyone and everything - even to the rain and the wind and the pine trees - and all of them spoke to her after their own fashion.
It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want—oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!
Nothing could be more pleasant than to live in solitude, enjoy the spectacle of nature, and occasionally read some book.
Oh, the little birds sang east, and the little birds sang west.
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