The opinions of men are not the object of civil government, nor under its jurisdiction.
Interpretation
Civil government should not be concerned with personal opinions.
This quote by Thomas Jefferson emphasizes the idea that government should not meddle in the personal beliefs and opinions of individuals. It suggests that a free society allows people to hold and express differing views without interference from governmental authority, thus underpinning the principles of personal liberty and freedom of expression.
In practice
Using this quote in a discussion about the limits of government intervention in personal beliefs.
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.
No man dies for what he knows to be true. Men die for what they want to be true, for what some terror in their hearts tells them is not true.
I wonder do the gods know what it feels like to be a man.
There are no insoluble problems. Only time-consuming ones.
A zeal for different opinions concerning religion...[has] divided mankind into parties, inflamed them with mutual animosity, and rendered them much more disposed to vex and oppress each other than to co-operate for their common good.
Everything in life depends on how that life accepts its limits.
The most difficult We do not deal in facts when we are contemplating ourselves.
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