I have no fear that the result of our experiment will be that men may be trusted to govern themselves without a master.
Thomas JeffersonI see the necessity of sacrificing our opinions sometimes to the opinions of others for the sake of harmony.
Thomas JeffersonNo other depositories of power [but the people themselves] have ever yet been found, which did not end in converting to their own profit the earnings of those committed to their charge.
Thomas JeffersonCertainly one of the highest duties of the citizen is a scrupulous obedience to the laws of the nation. But it is not the highest duty.
Thomas JeffersonThat this privilege of giving or of withholding our monies is an important barrier against the undue exertion of prerogative, which if left altogether without control may be exercised to our great oppression; and all history shews how efficacious is its intercession for redress of grievances and re-establishment of rights, and how improvident would be the surrender of so powerful a mediator
Thomas Jefferson