Although our prospect is peace, our policy and purpose are to provide for defense by all those means to which our resources are competent.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of defense while striving for peace as a goal.
Thomas Jefferson's quote reflects the dual approach of seeking peace but recognizing the necessity of being prepared for defense. It underscores the idea that while the ultimate aim may be harmony and tranquility, it is crucial to have the means to protect oneself and oneβs values when faced with threats, suggesting a balance between idealism and pragmatism in policy.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech about national security to highlight the need for preparedness while advocating for peaceful solutions.
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.
God is God; you are but one of His creatures. Your only joy is to be found in obeying Him, your true fulfillment is to be found in worshiping Him, your only wisdom is to be found in trusting and knowing Him.
If bodies please thee, praise God on occasion of them, and turn back thy love upon their Maker; lest in these things which please thee, thou displease. If souls please thee, be they loved in God: for they too are mutable, but in Him they are firmly established.
I act as the tongue of you, ... tied in your mouth . . . . in mine it begins to be loosened.
I try to very hard to avoid a situation where I would be eating cat or dog; I've managed to gracefully avoid that. It's hypocritical of me and an arbitrary line, but one that I have managed to avoid crossing.
I prefer the most unfair peace to the most righteous war.
The cadence of suffering has begun. Every evening at dusk, my heart constricts until night has come.
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