The multiplication of public offices, increase of expense beyond income, growth and entailment of a public debt are indications soliciting the employment of the pruning knife.
Interpretation
Excessive government expenditures and debt require careful reduction.
In this quote, Thomas Jefferson warns that the proliferation of public offices and the accumulation of debt signal a need for austerity measures. He suggests that when government spending exceeds income and debt grows unchecked, it is crucial to assess and eliminate unnecessary expenditures to restore fiscal responsibility.
In practice
During a town hall meeting about budget cuts, this quote can highlight the need for financial prudence.
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.
Any government that supports, protects or harbours terrorists is complicit in the murder of the innocent and equally guilty of terrorist crimes.
Without a single shot we've managed to liberate the world of communism but now there is a need for a global solidarity.
Our friends at the Republican convention were more than happy to talk about everything they think is wrong with America, but they didn't have much to say about how they'd make it right. They want your vote, but they don't want you to know their plan.
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
Senator McCarthy's reckless and unfounded attempt to impugn my loyalty is just one more example of his typical tactic of attempting to tie up to Communism anyone who disagrees with him.
When facism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the American flag.
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