Were we directed from Washington when to sow and when to reap, we should soon want bread.
Interpretation
Without personal initiative and the ability to make our own decisions, we would struggle to fulfill our basic needs.
This quote by Thomas Jefferson emphasizes the importance of personal freedom and self-reliance in achieving success. It suggests that if individuals were solely reliant on external direction for their actions, such as when to plant and harvest crops, they would inevitably face failure and lack basic necessities like food. The underlying message advocates for individual initiative and the ability to make choices, as these are essential for personal and societal prosperity.
In practice
During a commencement speech to inspire graduates to take initiative in their careers.
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.
The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which mean never losing your enthusiasm.
You are the people who are shaping a better world. One of the secrets of inner peace is the practice of compassion.
Every man hath the right to doubt his task, and to forsake it from time to time; but what he must not do is forget it. Whoever doubteth not himself is unworthy -for in his unquestioning belief in his ability, he commiteth the sin of pride. Blessed are they who go through moments of indecision.
What you put your attention on grows strong in your life.
A master blesses calamity, for the master knows that from the seeds of disaster (and all experience) comes the growth of self.
There are but two ways of paying debt: Increase of industry in raising income, increase of thrift in laying out.
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