Free men do not ask permission to bear arms
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the inherent right of individuals to defend themselves without seeking approval.
This quote by Thomas Jefferson highlights the importance of personal freedom and the natural right of individuals to protect themselves. It suggests that true freedom involves the ability to take action for self-defense and that seeking permission undermines one's autonomy and rights.
In practice
Use this quote during a debate about gun control to emphasize individual 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
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.
I've put up with more humiliation than I care to remember.
We cried and sobbed and wept and bled tears. But when we were finished, all we could do was continue living.
The best way out of a difficulty is through it.
Surely the best way to meet the enemy is head on in the field and not wait till they plunder our very homes.
You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.... The danger lies in refusing to face the fear, in not daring to come to grips with it. If you fail anywhere along the line it will take away your confidence. You must make yourself succeed every time. You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
Some people are so worn down by the yoke of oppression that they give up.
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