We are now vibrating between too much and too little government, and the pendulum will rest finally in the middle.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the balance needed in government intervention, suggesting that extremes will eventually level out.
Thomas Jefferson's quote highlights the delicate balance of governmental authority, indicating that societies often oscillate between excessive control and inadequate governance. He suggests that through this dynamic struggle, a middle ground will ultimately be achieved, where government fulfills its role without overstepping its bounds or leaving citizens vulnerable.
In practice
During a political debate, one might quote Jefferson to emphasize the need for balanced governance.
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.
Politics is so personal, vicious and immediate, how are you going to get anything done? Even the local politics where I live have gotten so ugly.
If I had been an Italian I am sure that I should have been whole-heartedly with you from the start to finish in your triumphant struggle against the bestial appetites and passions of Leninism.
Controversial disputes are a part of democratic culture.
Theodore Roosevelt's policy to build a two-ocean navy confirmed that the old-style isolationism of the founders had not survived the modern, increasingly globalized world.
Unless confronted by an immediate, visible, or uncomfortable crisis, our nation's tendency is to take the security of the Western Hemisphere for granted.
...the first step in the revolution by the working class, is to raise the proletariat to the position of ruling class, to win the battle for democracy.
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