An elective despotism was not the government we fought for, but one which should not only be founded on true free principles, but in which the powers of government should be so divided and balanced among general bodies of magistracy, as that no one could transcend their legal limits without being effectually checked and restrained by the others.
Thomas JeffersonThough [the people] may acquiesce, they cannot approve what they do not understand.
Thomas JeffersonWe have no right to prejudice another in his civil enjoyments because he is of another church.
Thomas JeffersonYet by such worthless beings is a great nation to be governed and even made to deify their old king because he is only a fool and a maniac, and to forgive and forget his having lost to them a great and flourishing empire.
Thomas Jefferson