Whatever enables us to go to war, secures our peace
Interpretation
The quote suggests that the ability to defend oneself or go to war is essential for maintaining peace.
Thomas Jefferson emphasizes the paradoxical relationship between war and peace, asserting that the readiness to engage in conflict is a vital component of securing peace. This viewpoint reflects a philosophical stance that suggests peace is often safeguarded by the ability and willingness to confront aggressors or threats, indicating that strength can prevent chaos and disorder.
In practice
Use this quote in a discussion about military strategies during a history class.
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.
Science is nothing but perception.
I felt we must separate political responsibility. The Dalai Lama should not carry that burden. So that is my selfish reason - to protect the old Dalai Lama tradition. It is safer without political involvement.
Forgiveness is the answer to the child's dream of a miracle by which what is broken is made whole again, what is soiled is made clean again.
I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day. What hours, O what black hours we have spent This night!
The curtain of the universe is moth-eaten, and through its holes we see nothing now but mask and ghost.
Years, following years, steal something every day; At last they steal us from ourselves away.
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