It is not only vain, but wicked, in a legislator to frame laws in opposition to the laws of nature, and to arm them with the terrors of death. This is truly creating crimes in order to punish them.
Interpretation
The quote criticizes lawmakers who create laws that contradict natural laws, arguing that such practices are immoral.
Thomas Jefferson emphasizes the moral obligation of legislators to align their laws with the inherent laws of nature. He argues that when legislators create laws that go against natural principles and impose severe punishments, they are essentially inventing crimes to justify their own power, which is both vain and wicked. This reflects a deep concern for justice and the natural order of life.
In practice
A lawyer might use this quote in a speech about the importance of just laws.
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
We 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.
Fire and water may as well agree in the same vessel, as grace and sin in the same heart.
We establish no religion in this country. We command no worship. We mandate no belief, nor will we ever. Church and state are and must remain separate.
Human nature is such that people are born with a love of profit If they follow these inclinations, they will struggle and snatch from each other, and inclinations to defer or yield will die.
The torch of doubt and chaos, this is what the sage steers by.
The evolution of man is the evolution of his consciousness, and 'consciousness' cannot evolve unconsciously. The evolution of man is the evolution of his will, and 'will' cannot evolve involuntarily.
I never killed anybody, I never raped anybody, I never committed no crimes that weren't honorable.
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