I am an Epicurean. I consider the genuine (not the imputed) doctrines of Epicurus as containing everything rational in moral philosophy which Greece and Rome have left us.
Interpretation
Jefferson expresses his admiration for Epicurean philosophy, valuing rational moral teachings from Greece and Rome.
In this quote, Thomas Jefferson identifies himself as an Epicurean, emphasizing his belief that the authentic teachings of Epicurus represent the pinnacle of moral philosophy handed down from ancient Greece and Rome. He indicates a strong appreciation for the rational and thoughtful approach to ethics and happiness that Epicurus advocated, suggesting that these ideas are essential for understanding morality and leading a fulfilling life.
In practice
Using this quote in a philosophy class discussion on ancient moral teachings.
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.
Wealth often takes away chances from men as well as poverty. There is none to tell the rich to go on striving, for a rich man makes the law that hallows and hollows his own life.
It is not suffering as such that is most deeply feared but suffering that degrades.
I could have clasped the red walls to my bosom as a garment of eternal peace. "Death," I said, "any death but that of the pit!" Fool! might I have not known that into the pit it was the object of the burning iron to urge me?
One of the reasons inequality gets so deep in this country is that everyone wants to be rich. That's the American ideal. Poor people don't like talking about poverty because even though they might live in the projects surrounded by other poor people and have, like, ten dollars in the bank, they don't like to think of themselves as poor.
It is a clear truth that those who every day barter away other men's liberty will soon care little for their own.
I've never allowed my political life, or my life as a basketball player, to define the totality of my humanity or my personality.
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