Establish the eternal truth that acquiescence under insult is not the way to escape war.
Interpretation
Ignoring insults does not prevent conflict; active resistance is necessary for peace.
In this quote, Thomas Jefferson emphasizes that simply accepting insults or injustices will not lead to a resolution of conflict or war. Instead, one must stand up against such wrongs to prevent larger conflicts from arising. It suggests the importance of asserting oneself and addressing issues directly rather than hoping that silence or submission will lead to peace.
In practice
This quote can be referenced in a speech about the importance of standing up against bullying.
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.
This is a ruthless world and one must be ruthless to cope with it.
When a thing is new, people say: βIt is not true.β Later, when its truth becomes obvious, they say: βIt is not important.β Finally, when its importance cannot be denied, they say: βAnyway, it is not new.
Nowhere is wisdom more necessary than in the guidance of charitable impulses. Meaning well is only half our duty; Thinking right is the other, and equally important, half.
If your goal is purity of heart, be prepared to be thought very odd.
As they who make Good luck a god count all unlucky men.
...I returned to walking up the mountain, and there, in the dim asexual beauty of reddening dawns and skies that firmed to blue, I discovered my real and appropriate strengths.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.