Resolved ... that it would be a dangerous delusion were a confidence in the men of our choice to silence our fears for the safety of our rights: that confidence is everywhere the parent of despotism - free government is founded in jealousy, and not in confidence.
Interpretation
Trusting leaders without scrutiny can lead to tyranny; healthy skepticism is essential for a free government.
In this quote, Thomas Jefferson emphasizes the importance of skepticism towards those in power. He argues that while confidence in chosen leaders is natural, reliance on this confidence without questioning can lead to despotism. Jefferson advocates for a government built not on blind trust, but on a vigilant awareness and concern for the preservation of individual rights and freedoms, underscoring that a healthy degree of jealousy towards power is fundamental to democracy.
In practice
During a town hall meeting discussing government policy.
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.
A 'no' does not hide anything, but a 'yes' very easily becomes a deception.
Remembering the facts of death and Heaven gives us an even more pressing reason to learn to pray: We do not have an infinite amount of time. We are one day nearer Home today than we ever were before. I guarantee you that after you die you will not say 'I spent too much time praying; I wish I had watched more TV instead.'
I don't wish to be the symbol of anything. I'm only myself.
If truth were not boring, science would have done away with God long ago. But God as well as the saints is a means to escape the dull banality of truth.
Power is a trick. It lies where we believe it lies.
To understand the totality of this extraordinary thing called life, one must obviously not be too definite about these things. One cannot be definite with something which is so immense, which is not measurable by words. We cannot understand the immeasurable so long as we approach it through time.
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