There are two subjects, indeed, which I shall claim a right to further as long as I breathe: the public education, and the sub-division of counties into wards. I consider the continuance of republican government as absolutely hanging on these two hooks.
Interpretation
Jefferson emphasizes the importance of public education and local governance for the preservation of a republican government.
In this quote, Thomas Jefferson highlights two crucial elements that he believes are vital for maintaining a republican form of government: the establishment of public education and the organization of counties into wards. By underscoring their significance, he suggests that the strength and sustainability of a democratic society rely on informed citizens and effective local governance that can safeguard liberty and promote civic responsibility.
In practice
In a discussion about community engagement, one might reference Jefferson's quote to argue for more funding in public education.
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.
There is no substitute for practical experience, and if you want to write about people you ought to put down that comic book and go out and meet some of them rather than studying the way that Stan Lee or Chris Claremont depict people.
No man can be a compleat Lawyer by universalitie of knowledge without experience in particular cases, nor by bare experience without universalitie of knowledge; he must be both speculative & active, for the science of the laws, I assure you, must joyne hands with experience.
Bookstores should be located not only on campuses or on main drags, but at the assembly plant's gates, also.
If I can write a book that will help the world make a little more sense to a teen, then that's why I was put on the planet.
It is easier to go to the Internet than to go to the library, undoubtedly. But the shift from no libraries to the existence of libraries was a much greater shift than what we've seen with the Internet's development.
Reading should not be presented to children as a chore, a duty. It should be offered as a gift.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.