I am sure that in estimating every man's value either in private or public life, a pure integrity is the quality we take first into calculation, and that learning and talents are only the second.
Interpretation
Integrity is the most important quality in assessing a person's worth, more than knowledge or skills.
In this quote, Thomas Jefferson emphasizes the primacy of integrity in evaluating an individual's character, both in personal and public contexts. He argues that while knowledge and talent are valuable, they are secondary to the fundamental quality of being honest and having strong moral principles, suggesting that a person's true worth is ultimately defined by their integrity.
In practice
In a motivational speech about ethics in leadership.
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.
We gain freedom when we have paid the full price.
Sounded like a load of waffle to me." "There was some important stuff hidden in the waffle.
There's a big confusion in this country over what we want versus what we need," Morrie said. "You need food, you want a chocolate sundae. You have to be honest with yourself. You don't need the latest sports car, you don't need the biggest house. The truth is, you don't get satisfaction from those things. You know what really gives you satisfaction?...Offering others what you have to give...I don't mean money, Mitch. I mean your time. Your concern. Your storytelling. It's not so hard.
Rather than engage in the sort of selective retention that so many investors tend to do and pretend mistakes never happened, I prefer to 'own' them. This allows me to learn from them and, with any luck, avoid making the same errors again.
I've learnt something from every failure. The products I helped design at the first two companies I worked for were utter failures. But now I know why.
The things you get fired for when you’re young are the same things that you get lifetime achievement awards for when you’re old.
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