Man [is] a rational animal, endowed by nature with rights and with an innate sense of justice.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the inherent nature of humans as rational beings who possess rights and a sense of justice.
Thomas Jefferson's quote reflects the Enlightenment belief in human nature's rationality and the intrinsic rights that every individual possesses. He argues that these rights are innate and foundational, suggesting that justice is not merely a societal construct but a natural law inherent in every person, linking morality with the essence of humanity.
In practice
In a speech advocating for human rights, one could quote Jefferson to highlight the inherent rights of all individuals.
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.
If by the liberty of the press were understood merely the liberty of discussing the propriety of public measures and political opinions, let us have as much of it as you please: But if it means the liberty of affronting, calumniating and defaming one another, I, for my part, own myself willing to part with my share of it, whenever our legislators shall please so to alter the law and shall chearfully consent to exchange my liberty of abusing others for the privilege of not being abused myself.
Americans have been taught that their nation is civilized and humane. But, too often, U.S. actions have been uncivilized and inhumane.
When we realize what we were before Christ and what we deserved in that state, it further magnifies the enormity of the gospel for us.
Under observation, we act less free, which means we effectively are less free.
There should be a science of discontent. People need hard times and oppression to develop psychic muscles.
Very notable was his distinction between coarseness and vulgarity, coarseness, revealing something; vulgarity, concealing something.
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