Bodily decay is gloomy in prospect, but of all human contemplations the most abhorrent is body without mind.
Interpretation
The deterioration of the body is sad, but a body without an active mind is even more disturbing.
In this quote, Thomas Jefferson reflects on the inevitable decay of the human body, recognizing it as a natural and gloomy aspect of life. However, he emphasizes that the true horror lies in the prospect of a body that exists devoid of a functioning mind, suggesting that our mental faculties and consciousness are what give life its true value and meaning.
In practice
This quote could be used in a speech about the importance of mental health and well-being.
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.
Opinion of ghosts, ignorance of second causes, devotion to what men fear, and talking of things casual for prognostics, consisteth the natural seeds of religion
It used to be, everyone was entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts. But that's not the case anymore. Facts matter not at all. Perception is everything.
There is only one thing I fear in life, my friend: One day, the black will swallow the red.
Heaven is blest with perfect rest, but the blessing of Earth is toil.
When you're out of your own cultural context you have conversations with yourself that you just don't have at any other point in your life. When you're in a hotel room on the border between India and Nepal you can really discover things about yourself.
I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning.
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