The legislative powers of government reach actions only and not opinions.
Interpretation
Government can only control actions, not the beliefs or thoughts of individuals.
This quote by Thomas Jefferson emphasizes the limited scope of governmental authority, suggesting that while laws can regulate behavior, they cannot govern the beliefs or inner thoughts of citizens. Jefferson advocates for the notion of personal freedom, underscoring that opinions are private and should remain unregulated by law.
In practice
During a political rally discussing civil liberties.
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.
There is scarcely anything more important in the government of men than the exact - I will ever say pedantic - observance of the regular forms by which the guilt or innocence of accused persons is determined.
The day of the absolute is over, and we're in for the strange gods once more.
If thy brother wrongs thee, remember not so much his wrong-doing, but more than ever that he is thy brother.
Government is at best a petulant servant and at worst a tyrannical master.
I've now realised for the first time in my life the vital Importance of Being Earnest.
Philosophy ... is a science, and as such has no articles of faith; accordingly, in it nothing can be assumed as existing except what is either positively given empirically, or demonstrated through indubitable conclusions.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.