The several states composing the United States of America are not united on the principle of unlimited submission to their general government
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of balance between state and federal authority.
Thomas Jefferson's quote reflects his belief that the individual states within the United States should not be entirely submissive to the federal government. Instead, there should be a balance where states have the power to govern themselves and protect their rights without being overridden by a central authority, highlighting the principles of autonomy and federalism.
In practice
In a speech about state rights, you might reference this quote to highlight the need for autonomy.
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.
Gold was an objective value, an equivalent of wealth produced. Paper is a mortgage on wealth that does not exist, backed by a gun aimed at those who are expected to produce it.
Do something for somebody everyday for which you do not get paid.
Under the spreading chestnut tree I sold you and you sold me--
It's a rare and precious thing to be close to suffering because our society - in many ways - tells us that suffering is wrong. If it's our own suffering, we try to hide it or isolate ourselves. If others are suffering, we're taught to put them away somewhere so we don't have to see it.
Apathy is a rational reaction to a system that no longer represents, hears or addresses the vast majority of people.
LOGOMACHY, n. A war in which the weapons are words and the wounds punctures in the swim-bladder of self-esteem - a kind of contest in which, the vanquished being unconscious of defeat, the victor is denied the reward of success.
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