We must use a good deal of economy in our wood, never cutting down new, where we can make the old do.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of resourcefulness and sustainability in using available materials.
Thomas Jefferson advocates for a mindful and sustainable approach to resource management in this quote. He suggests that rather than recklessly depleting new resources, one should find ways to repurpose and utilize what is already available, promoting a philosophy of conservation and efficiency that can be applied to various aspects of life.
In practice
In a discussion about environmental impact, one could use this quote to emphasize the need for sustainable practices.
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.
We distinguish the excellent man from the common man by saying that the former is the one who makes great demands on himself, and the latter who makes no demands on himself.
The fly that doesn't want to be swatted is most secure when it lights on the fly-swatter.
If a man does not know to what port he is steering, no wind is favorable to him. Ignoranti quem portum petat, nullus suus ventus est.
In order to see, you have to stop being in the middle of the picture
I can tell you, honest friend, what to believe: believe life; it teaches better that book or orator.
Action is the process whereby what is not fully formed passes into expressive consciousness.
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