The policy of the American government is to leave their citizens free, neither restraining nor aiding them in their pursuits.
Interpretation
Jefferson advocates for a hands-off government approach, allowing citizens to pursue their own paths without interference.
In this quote, Thomas Jefferson expresses a core principle of American democracy, emphasizing the importance of individual freedom and limited government intervention. He suggests that the role of government should not involve obstructing or excessively supporting its citizens, but rather providing an environment where individuals are free to pursue their own interests and aspirations, thereby fostering personal responsibility and autonomy.
In practice
A speaker at a political rally discussing the importance of personal freedom and minimal government interference.
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.
The first question we would ask if aliens landed on this planet is not, 'What does this mean for the economy or jobs?' It would be, 'Are they friendly or unfriendly?'
Relativism is not indifference; on the contrary, passionate indifference is necessary in order for you not to hear the voices that oppose your absolute decrees...
Before the Christian Church goes into eclipse anywhere there must first be a corrupting of her simple basic theology. She simply gets a wrong answer to the question, βWhat is God like?β and goes on from there. Though she may continue to cling to a sound nominal creed, her practical working creed has become false. The masses of her adherents come to believe that God is different from what He actually is; and that is heresy of the most insidious and deadly kind
Ah, if only I had brought a cigar with me! This would have _x000D_ established my identity.
I often don't say things out loud, even when I should. I contain and compartmentalize to a disturbing degree: In my belly-basement are hundreds of bottles of rage, despair, fear, but you'd never guess from looking at me.
It is as hard and severe a thing to be a true politician as to be truly moral.
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