I have done for my country, and for all mankind, all that I could do, and I now resign my soul, without fear, to my God - my daughter to my country.
Interpretation
This quote expresses a deep sense of duty and surrender to both a higher power and a nation, reflecting on personal sacrifice and responsibility.
In this quote, Thomas Jefferson articulates his commitment to serving his country and humanity at large, suggesting that he has given his all in his efforts. It reflects the profound human experience of balancing personal sacrifice, religious faith, and allegiance, as he resigns his soul to God while entrusting his daughter to the nation he has served, highlighting the interconnectedness of personal and public duty.
In practice
During a remembrance ceremony for veterans, one might quote Jefferson to honor those who have served.
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 probability of apocalypse soon cannot be realistically estimated, but it is surely too high for any sane person to contemplate with equanimity.
No mariner ever enters upon a more uncharted sea than does the average human being born in the 20th century. Our ancestors know their way from birth through eternity; we are puzzled about the day after tomorrow.
It's a true image, born of a false spectacle.
The very spot where grew the bread that formed my bones, I see. How strange, old field, on thee to tread, and feel I'm part of thee.
All things human hang by a slender thread; and that which seemed to stand strong suddenly falls and sinks in ruins.
There are no more ideologies in the authentic sense of false consciousness, only advertisements for the world through its duplication and the provocative lie which does not seek belief but commands silence.
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