No government ought to be without censors; and where the press is free no one ever will.
Interpretation
Censorship is a necessary part of governance, and freedom of the press ensures accountability.
Thomas Jefferson emphasizes the need for oversight in government through the concept of censorship, suggesting that a healthy press serves as the people's watchdog. He argues that in a truly free society, the presence of a vigilant and unrestricted media ensures that those in power are held accountable, effectively acting as a censor in its own right by informing the public and revealing truths that might otherwise be hidden.
In practice
This quote can be used in a debate about the importance of journalism in democracy.
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.
Ours is not a problem of the intellect but of spiritual poverty. That is why we need a Savior.
The ugly heart of the South still beats with this idea that one group of people is worth less.
Boredom is the feeling that everything is a waste of time; serenity, that nothing is.
I've always preferred writing about grey characters and human characters. Whether they are giants or elves or dwarves, or whatever they are, they're still human, and the human heart is still in conflict with the self.
There is no point asserting and reasserting what the heart cannot believe.
You canβt repeat the past.β βCanβt repeat the past?β he cried incredulously. βWhy of course you can!
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