I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of focusing on future possibilities rather than being burdened by past events.
Thomas Jefferson highlights the value of aspiring towards a hopeful future and the potential it holds, suggesting that it is more beneficial to dream and envision what could be, rather than getting weighed down by historical events and past experiences. This perspective advocates for optimism and motivation to create a better tomorrow.
In practice
In a motivational speech to encourage young people to pursue their aspirations.
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.
I started off believing all men were equal. I now know that's the most unlikely thing ever to have been... But by observation, reading, watching, arguing, asking, that is the conclusion I've come to.
Scepticism is the first step towards truth.
Men who have greatness within them don't go in for politics.
Virtue is more clearly shown in the performance of fine ACTIONS than in the non-performance of base ones.
We come into the world alone and we die alone. Why, in life, should we be any less alone?
You've never seen death? Look in the mirror every day and you will see it like bees working in a glass hive.
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