No experiment can be more interesting than that we are now trying, and which we trust will end in establishing the fact, that man may be governed by reason and truth. Our first object should therefore be, to leave open to him all the avenues to truth. The most effectual hitherto found, is the freedom of the press. It is, therefore, the first shut up by those who fear the investigation of their actions.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of reason, truth, and freedom of the press in the governance of humanity.
In this quote, Thomas Jefferson highlights the critical relationship between governance, reason, and truth. He argues that the pursuit of knowledge and the commitment to rational thought should be paramount, particularly through the essential role of a free press. Jefferson suggests that those in power often seek to stifle this freedom when they feel threatened by scrutiny, underscoring the necessity of open access to truth for a well-governed society.
In practice
In a speech advocating for media transparency, one might quote Jefferson to highlight the significance of a free press.
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.
The very beginning of Genesis tells us that God created man in order to give him dominion over fish and fowl and all creatures. Of course, Genesis was written by a man, not a horse. There is no certainty that God actually did grant man dominion over other creatures. What seems more likely, in fact, is that man invented God to sanctify the dominion that he usurped for himself over the cow and the horse.
The more stupid one is, the closer one is to reality. The more stupid one is, the clearer one is. Stupidity is brief and artless, while intelligence squirms and hides itself. Intelligence is unprincipled, but stupidity is honest and straightforward.
That's the thing about suicide. Try as you might to remember how a person lived his life, you always end up thinking about how he ended it.
pg.9 "In my heart there's a peaceful anguish, and my calm is made of resignation.
I don't think one can write from a compromised moral position.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.
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