The doctrines of Jesus are simple, and tend to all the happiness of man.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that the teachings of Jesus are straightforward and ultimately aim to promote human happiness.
Thomas Jefferson highlights the simplicity of Jesus's teachings and emphasizes their focus on the well-being and happiness of humanity. He implies that understanding and embracing these doctrines can lead to a more fulfilling and joyful life, suggesting a universal truth in the moral guidance provided by these teachings.
In practice
In a discussion about ethics, one could quote Jefferson to highlight the moral foundations of happiness.
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.
In the social jungle of human existence, there is no feeling of being alive without a sense of identity.
Arithmetic arithmetock Turn the hands back on the clock How does the ocean rock the boat? How did the razor find my throat? The only strings that hold me here Are tangled up around the pier.
If you don't want your tax dollars to help the poor, then stop saying that you want a country based on Christian values. Because you don't!
In our day we don't allow a hundred and thirty years to elapse between glimpses of a marvel. If somebody should discover a creek in the county next to the one that the North Pole is in, Europe and America would start fifteen costly expeditions thither; one to explore the creek, and the other fourteen to hunt for each other.
I'll tell you what it is... just why 'Wonder Woman' worked. Or 'Bionic Woman,' or any of those, really. It was because it wasn't about brawn... it was about brains. And yes, she happened to be beautiful, she happened to be kind of extraordinary in some way, but she wasn't a guy.
Mythology is often defined as 'other peoples' religions', religion can be thought of as misinterpreted mythology.
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