Born in the same land, we ought to live as brothers, doing to each other all the good we can, and not listening to wicked men, who may endeavor to make us enemies. By living in peace, we can help and prosper one another; by waging war, we can kill and destroy many on both sides; but those who survive will not be the happier for that.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of unity and goodwill among people, urging against allowing negativity to create divisions.
Thomas Jefferson's quote reflects the idea that individuals, being from the same community, should strive to treat each other as brothers and sisters. He warns against the influence of malevolent individuals who seek to sow discord, arguing that only through peace and cooperation can societies thrive. Conversely, conflict leads to suffering and destruction, ultimately bringing no happiness to those who endure the aftermath.
In practice
In a community meeting, to encourage togetherness among neighbors.
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.
A liberated woman is one who has sex before marriage and a job after.
If you wanna get a report card on your faith, see how you are dealing with people who are really difficult to deal with.
The fact that 98 percent of women in [the U.S.] who are sexually experienced say they use birth control doesn't make sex any less sacred. It just means that they're getting to make choices about their lives.
No woman should ever have to choose between maintaining a healthy pregnancy and a paycheck.
It is not inertia alone that is responsible for human relationships repeating themselves from case to case, indescribably monotonous and unrenewed: it is shyness before any sort of new, unforeseeable experience with which one does not think oneself able to cope. But only someone who is ready for everything, who excludes nothing, not even the most enigmatical will live the relation to another as something alive.
When it comes time to settle down, find someone who wants an equal partner. Someone who thinks women should be smart, opinionated, and ambitious.
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