Every day is lost in which we do not learn something useful. Man has no nobler or more valuable possession than time.
Interpretation
Learning is a vital part of life, and time is our most precious resource.
This quote emphasizes the importance of continual learning and self-improvement. Jefferson suggests that each day that passes without the acquisition of knowledge is a day wasted, highlighting that time is the most valuable asset one possesses, and how we utilize it shapes our lives fundamentally.
In practice
In a motivational speech about education and self-improvement.
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.
Gratitude develops faith. The surest path out of a slump is marked by the road sign "thank you, God."
We have this amazing ability to turn on the exactly same stress response worrying about a mortgage that a zebra does when it's sprinting away from a lion.
In difficult times carry something beautiful in your heart.
Try not to become disappointed if someone doesn't like a story you've written. Stick up for your ideas, but listen to what other people say, too. They might have good advice.
I have to understand what my strengths and limitations are, and work from a true place. I try to do this as best I can while still protecting my writer self, which more than ever needs privacy.
Self is the only prison that can ever bind the soul.
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