The equal rights of man and the happiness of every individual are now acknowledged to be the only legitimate objects of government.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes that the core purpose of government is to ensure equal rights and individual happiness.
Thomas Jefferson's quote suggests that the primary role of any government is to uphold the equal rights of all individuals while ensuring that each person's pursuit of happiness is recognized as a legitimate goal. This reflects a foundational principle of democratic governance, highlighting the belief that justice and personal fulfillment should be at the forefront of political objectives.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech about human rights.
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.
It seemed impossible that there could be people in the world who still desired food, who laughed, who neither knew nor cared that Sirius Black was gone forever.
why does what was beautiful shatter in hindsight because it concealed dark truths?
The Lord called me by the way of simplicity and humility, and this way He hath shown me in truth for me and those who will believe and imitate me. And therefore I would that ye name not to me any rule, neither of St. Augustine, nor St. Benedict, nor of Bernard, nor any way or form of living, but that which was mercifully shown and given me by the Lord.
It was a catch-22: If you didn’t put the trauma behind you, you couldn’t move on. But if you did put the trauma behind you, you willingly gave up your claim to the person you were before it happened.
In terms of evolutionary history, it was only yesterday that men learned to walk around on two legs and get in trouble thinking complicated thoughts. So don't worry, you'll burn out.
For the world is movement, and you cannot be stationary in your attitude toward something that is moving.
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