Every State has a natural right in cases not within the compact (casus non faederis) to nullify of their own authority all assumptions of power by others within their limits. Without this right, they would be under the dominion, absolute and unlimited, of whosoever might exercise this right of judgment for them.
Interpretation
States have the inherent right to nullify unauthorized power imposed on them.
This quote by Thomas Jefferson emphasizes the principle that states hold an intrinsic authority to reject any overreach of power by external entities within their jurisdiction. Jefferson argues that without this right of nullification, states would be subjected to the arbitrary will of those who claim authority over them, undermining their autonomy and self-governance.
In practice
During a political debate about state sovereignty, this quote can be used to argue for the importance of state 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.
Capital is reckless of the health or length of life of the laborer, unless under compulsion from society.
Every woman is supposed to have the same set of motives, or else to be a monster.
The hardness of God is kinder than the softness of men, and His compulsion is our liberation.
There are two kinds of taste, the taste for emotions of surprise and the taste for emotions of recognition.
The beauty of darkness _x000D_ is how it lets you see.
A very popular error: having the courage of one's convictions; rather it is a matter of having the courage for an attack on one's convictions.
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