Experience demands that man is the only animal which devours his own kind, for I can apply no milder term to the general prey of the rich on the poor.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the nature of humanity, highlighting the inherent violence and exploitation found within society.
Thomas Jefferson's quote contemplates the darker aspects of human nature and society, implying that humans, unlike other animals, have the capacity for self-destructive behavior, particularly through the exploitation of one another. He suggests that the rich prey on the poor, illustrating a critique of economic inequality and moral decay in a system where some benefit at the expense of others.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion about economic inequality during a social justice seminar.
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.
That your enemies have been created is God's doing; that they hate you and wish to ruin you is their own doing. What should you say about them in your mind? "Lord be merciful to them, forgive them their sins, put the fear of God in them, change them!" You are loving in them not what they are, but what you would have them to become.
And although it might be best of all to be Socrates satisfied, having both happiness and depth, we would give up some happiness in order to gain the depth.
The best actors just stay in the moment,and whatever happens in the scene is a genuine surprise. You really do not know what's going to happen next. But living that out in life is very dangerous because it throws you into a place where you don't know if you're going to survive.
I may not agree with what you have to say but I will fight you to the death for the right to fight you to the death.
Never take your obedience as the reason God blesses you; obedience is the outcome of being rightly related to God.
The curse of poverty has no justification in our age.
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