I own that I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive.
Interpretation
Thomas Jefferson emphasizes his skepticism toward a powerful government, viewing it as likely to be oppressive.
In this quote, Thomas Jefferson expresses his belief that a highly energetic or powerful government tends to infringe on the liberties of individuals. He suggests that such governments, while often created with good intentions, can become oppressive and undermine the freedoms they are meant to protect.
In practice
In a discussion about government policies, this quote can illustrate the importance of maintaining personal freedoms.
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.
Seems to me that the institutions that function in this country are clearly racist, and that they're built upon racism.
Most men seem to live according to sense rather than reason.
What the universal Church holds, not as instituted [invented] by councils but as something always held, is most correctly believed to have been handed down by apostolic authority. Since others respond for children, so that the celebration of the sacrament may be complete for them, it is certainly availing to them for their consecration, because they themselves are not able to respond.
Disciples will not be weakened by suffering, worn down, and embittered until they are broken. Instead, they bear suffering, by the power of him who supports them. The disciples bear the suffering laid on them only by the power of him who bears all suffering on the cross. As bearers of suffering, they stand in communion with the Crucified.
What do you want a meaning for? Life is a desire, not a meaning.
The sage's Way is to act and not to contend.
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