The people of every country are the only safe guardians of their own rights.
Interpretation
A nation's citizens are responsible for protecting their own freedoms and rights.
This quote by Thomas Jefferson emphasizes the fundamental belief in democracy that the citizens hold the authority and responsibility to safeguard their own rights and liberties. It suggests that the power and responsibility for rights does not rest solely with leaders or governments, but rather with the people, who must actively participate in their preservation and defense.
In practice
This quote can be used during a civic education class to inspire students to be active in their communities.
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.
People talk about the Patriot Act that was passed immediately in the wake of September 11. What the Patriot Act did was break down the walls between the various agencies.
The leading student of business propaganda, Australian social scientist Alex Carey, argues persuasively that βthe 20th century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: the growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy.
The dangers of unexamined and unregulated monopoly power, particularly in the state executive, are hardly news. The right reaction is not passive acquiescence.
The secret ballot makes a secret government; and a secret government is a secret band of robbers and murderers.
All politics takes place on a slippery slope. The most important four words in politics are up to a point.
A politician is a statesman who approaches every question with an open mouth.
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