In our early struggles for liberty, religious freedom could not fail to become a primary object.
Interpretation
Thomas Jefferson emphasizes the importance of religious freedom in the pursuit of liberty.
In this quote, Thomas Jefferson reflects on the historical significance of religious freedom during the struggles for liberty. He suggests that the quest for personal and societal freedom could not be fully realized without acknowledging and advocating for the right to practice one's religion freely, as it is a fundamental aspect of individual liberty.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of civil rights, one might quote Jefferson to emphasize the value of religious freedom.
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.
Our spirit is back, but we haven't reinstitutionalized it. We've got to do a better job of getting across that America is freedom - freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise. And freedom is special and rare. It's fragile; it needs production [protection].
What freedom am I being offered while the organization of the people remains banned? Only free men can negotiate. A prisoner cannot enter into contracts.
The great battleground for the defense and expansion of freedom today is the whole southern half of the globe... the lands of the rising peoples. Their revolution is the greatest in human history. They seek an end to injustice, tyranny and exploitation. More than an end, they seek a beginning.
We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands.
Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.
In the 20th century, imprisonment of writers practically comes with the territory.
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