If virtuous, the government need not fear the fair operation of attack and defense. Nature has given to man no other means of sifting the truth, either in religion, law, or politics.
Interpretation
A government that is just and virtuous can trust in the natural process of honest debate to reveal the truth.
In this quote, Thomas Jefferson asserts that a virtuous government has nothing to fear from challenges to its authority or policies, as open discourse and debate act as a mechanism for uncovering truth. He emphasizes that the principles of truth in matters of religion, law, and politics are inherent to human nature, suggesting that transparency and dialogue are essential for a just society.
In practice
During a town hall meeting about community issues, one could quote Jefferson to emphasize the importance of open discussion.
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 real problems of our planet are not economic or technical, they are philosophical. The philosophy of unbridled materialism is being challenged by events.
Every day I try to be in communication with the universe in an unconscious way.
A well governed appetite is the greater part of liberty.
Life has many good things. The problem is that most of these good things can be gotten only by sacrificing other good things. We all recognize this in our daily lives. It is only in politics that this simple, common sense fact is routinely ignored.
He walked out into the cold morning asking himself this heretical question: Can you start measuring a minute at any instant you wish?
For the world, I count it not an inn, but a hospital; and a place not to live, but to die in.
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