Resolved ... that it would be a dangerous delusion were a confidence in the men of our choice to silence our fears for the safety of our rights: that confidence is everywhere the parent of despotism - free government is founded in jealousy, and not in confidence.
Interpretation
Trusting leaders without scrutiny can lead to tyranny; healthy skepticism is essential for a free government.
In this quote, Thomas Jefferson emphasizes the importance of skepticism towards those in power. He argues that while confidence in chosen leaders is natural, reliance on this confidence without questioning can lead to despotism. Jefferson advocates for a government built not on blind trust, but on a vigilant awareness and concern for the preservation of individual rights and freedoms, underscoring that a healthy degree of jealousy towards power is fundamental to democracy.
In practice
During a town hall meeting discussing government policy.
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.
Religion is for people who fear hell, spirituality is for people who have been there.
Worry, doubt, fear and despair are the enemies which slowly bring us down to the ground and turn us to dust before we die.
There are no weeds, and no worthless men. There are only bad farmers.
The mind has first to be attuned to the Unconscious.
That which is now called natural philosophy, embracing the whole circle of science, of which astronomy occupies the chief place, is the study of the works of God, and of the power and wisdom of God in his works, and is the true theology.
But it doesn't take a thousand men to open a door, my lord." "It might to keep it open.
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