I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them but to inform their discretion.
Interpretation
Thomas Jefferson emphasizes the importance of an informed citizenry in exercising power within society.
In this quote, Thomas Jefferson argues that the true power of society lies in the hands of the people, and rather than stripping them of their power due to a lack of enlightenment, it is essential to educate and inform them. He expresses the belief that an informed populace is crucial to the functioning of democracy and that the solution to potential misuse of power is not to take away that power but to enhance the capability of the citizens to wield it responsibly.
In practice
In a speech advocating for civic education.
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
We 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 mind of man is continuously unfolding into a greater recognition of its real plan in the creative order of the Universe.
What makes Iago evil? Some people ask. I never ask.
There is no substitute for virtue. Keep your thoughts virtuous. Rise above the filth that's all around you in this world and stand tall in strength and virtue. You can do this and you will be happier for it for as long as you live. God bless you in cherishing, developing and holding on to this great gift, the quality of personal virtue.
The individual always realizes only one of the possibilities in his development, which could always have taken a different turning whenever he had to make an important decision.
All religions begin with the cry Help.
Music is essentially useless, as is life.
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