Civil officials have no business meddling in private religious affairs.
Interpretation
Government should not interfere in individual's religious beliefs.
This quote by Thomas Jefferson emphasizes the importance of separating church and state, suggesting that civil authorities should not involve themselves in the personal religious practices and beliefs of individuals. It reflects a fundamental principle of religious freedom and the idea that personal faith is a private matter that should not be governed or influenced by the state.
In practice
In a debate about the role of government in education, one might quote Jefferson to argue for religious neutrality.
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.
Every man is of importance to himself.
Tiffany has been apprenticing as a witch by visiting people in need with her mentor. After meeting with one particularly sad case, she tells her mentor, "It shouldn't be like this." Her mentor replies, "There isn't a way things should be. There's just what happens, and what we do.
Come Judgment Day, we may find that Mumbo Jumbo the God of the Congo was the Big Boss all along.
While Europe's eye is fix'd on mighty things, The fate of empires and the fall of kings; While quacks of State must each produce his plan, And even children lisp the Rights of Man; Amid this mighty fuss just let me mention, The Rights of Woman merit some attention.
Instinct perfected is a faculty of using and even constructing organized instruments; intelligence perfected is the faculty of making and using unorganized instruments.
The words seemed to bite physically into Gatsby.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.