Neither believe nor reject any thing because any other person, or description of persons have rejected or believed it. Your own reason is the only oracle given you by heaven.
Interpretation
Trust your own reasoning and judgment rather than simply following others' beliefs.
This quote by Thomas Jefferson emphasizes the importance of independent thinking. It urges individuals to make their own decisions based on personal reasoning rather than being swayed by the opinions or beliefs of others, highlighting the value of one's own judgment as the ultimate guide in life.
In practice
During a philosophy class discussion on critical thinking.
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.
The deeds you do may be the only sermon some persons will hear today.
This is a ruthless world and one must be ruthless to cope with it.
The world is his who can see through its pretension.
The ability to calm your soul and wait before God is one of the most difficult things in the Christian life. Our old nature is restless... the world around us is frantically in a hurry. But a restless heart usually leads to a reckless life.
Everyone is influenced by everybody but you bring it down home the way you feel it.
Yet how hard most people work for mere dust and ashes and care, taking no thought of growing in knowledge and grace, never having time to get in sight of their own ignorance.
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