The opinions of men are not the object of civil government, nor under its jurisdiction.
Interpretation
Civil government should not be concerned with personal opinions.
This quote by Thomas Jefferson emphasizes the idea that government should not meddle in the personal beliefs and opinions of individuals. It suggests that a free society allows people to hold and express differing views without interference from governmental authority, thus underpinning the principles of personal liberty and freedom of expression.
In practice
Using this quote in a discussion about the limits of government intervention in personal beliefs.
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.
Hypocrisy can afford to be magnificent in its promises, for never intending to go beyond promise, it costs nothing.
The skull regarded Ralph like one who knows all the answers and won't tell.
Surfing's one of the few sports that you look ahead to see what's behind.
Things of which there is sight, hearing, apprehension, these I prefer.
All natural disasters are comforting because they reaffirm our impotence, in which, otherwise, we might stop believing. At times it is strangely sedative to know the extent of your own powerlessness.
There is the mind itself. It is like a smooth lake which when struck, say by a stone, vibrates. The vibrations gather together and react on the stone, and all through the lake they will spread and be felt. The mind is like the lake; it is constantly being set in vibrations, which leave an impression on the mind; and the idea of the Ego, or personal self, the "I", is the result of these impressions. This "I" therefore is only the very rapid transmission of force and is in itself no reality.
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