It behooves our citizens to be on their guard, to be firm in their principles, and full of confidence in themselves. We are able to preserve our self-government if we will but think so.
Interpretation
Citizens should remain vigilant, steadfast in their beliefs, and confident in their abilities to maintain self-governance.
This quote by Thomas Jefferson emphasizes the importance of vigilance and confidence among citizens in a democracy. Jefferson suggests that to effectively preserve self-governance, individuals must be committed to their principles and possess a strong sense of self-assurance, indicating that the strength of a democracy lies in the active participation and belief of its citizens.
In practice
In a speech advocating civic responsibility, one might say, 'As Thomas Jefferson wisely noted, it behooves our citizens to be vigilant and principled.'
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.
The world of crime is a last refuge of the authentic, uncorrupted, spontaneous event.
It is by all odds the loftiest of cities. It even managed to reach the highest point in the sky at the lowest moment of the depression.
I were better to be eaten to death with a rust than to be scoured to nothing with perpetual motion.
It is possibly not very helpful to our inner life to ponder a great deal on how the external world is reflected in our soul. By doing so, we do not get beyond a shadowy picture of the world of mental images in ourselves.
While photographs may not lie, liars may photograph.
The value of a man can only be measured with regard to other men.
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