I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.
Interpretation
Jefferson warns that banks pose a greater threat to freedom than military forces.
In this quote, Thomas Jefferson expresses his concern over the influence and power of banking institutions, suggesting that they can undermine individual liberties more severely than the presence of a military. He emphasizes the potential for economic systems to manipulate and control societies, highlighting the need for vigilance in protecting democratic freedoms against the power of financial entities.
In practice
In a speech about financial reform, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of regulating banking practices.
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.
Veronika had noticed that a lot of people she knew would talk about the horros in other people's lives as if they were genuinely concerned to help them, but the truth was that they took pleasure in the suffering of others, because that made them believe they were happy and that life had been generous with them
People who have a sense of peace that their priorities are in the right place also have a sense of humility and a realistic view on life.
Sing the songs of joy to the Lord, serve the Name of the Lord, and become the servant of His servants.
I tore up and ate my own passport in an airport hotel once. I'm bloated with language I canβt afford to forget.
I long for the days of disorder. I want them back, the days when I was alive on the earth, rippling in the quick of my skin, heedless and real. I was dumb-muscled and angry and real. This is what I long for, the breach of peace, the days of disarray when I walked real streets and did things slap-bang and felt angry and ready all the time, a danger to others and a distant mystery to myself.
The Art of War is self-explanatory
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