not to find out new principles, or new arguments, never before thought of . . . but to place before mankind the common sense of the subject, in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent, and to justify ourselves in the independent stand we are compelled to take.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of presenting common sense clearly to gain acceptance and justify one's stance.
In this quote, Thomas Jefferson asserts that the goal isn't necessarily to discover new ideas or arguments, but rather to present existing knowledge and truths in a manner that is clear and convincing. He believes that by articulating common sense effectively, individuals can earn the approval of others and support their independent beliefs and decisions.
In practice
During a debate, you could use this quote to emphasize the value of presenting clear arguments.
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
We 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 Tower. He would come to the Dark Tower and there he would sing their names; there he would sing their names; there he would sing all their names. The sun stained the east a dusky rose, and at last Roland, no longer the last gunslinger but one of the last three, slept and dreamed his angry dreams through which there ran only that one soothing blue thread: There I will sing all their names!
Your house is your larger body.
The hallmark of our age is the tension between aspirations and sluggish institutions.
Everybody works but the vacant lot
What reason, like the careful ant, draws laboriously together, the wind of accident sometimes collects in a moment.
The Ultimate and Highest leave taking is leaving God for GOD, leaving your notion of God for an Experience of That which transcends all notions.
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