In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.
Interpretation
Adapt your approach to style while remaining steadfast in your principles.
This quote by Thomas Jefferson emphasizes the importance of flexibility in superficial matters while maintaining firm convictions in core beliefs. It suggests that one should be adaptable and in tune with changing circumstances regarding style, but resolute and unyielding when it comes to fundamental principles and ethics.
In practice
This quote could be used during a leadership seminar to discuss the importance of adapting to trends.
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.
Maybe the reason my memory is so bad is that I always do at least two things at once. It's easier to forget something you only half-did or quarter did.
Honoring the priesthood fosters respect, respect promotes reverence, and reverence invites revelation.
Control is illusory. No matter what university you go to, no matter what degree you hold, if your goal is to becomes master of your own destiny, you have more to learn.
The reward of one duty is the power to fulfill another.
It is not on the pinnacle of success and ease where men and women grow most. It is often down in the valley of heartache and disappointment and reverses where men and women grow.
Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.
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