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Thomas Jefferson

There was a scene in the HBO documentary/dramatization mini-series, John Adams, in which Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826) presented a preliminary version of the Declaration of Independence to John Adams and Benjamin Franklin for their feedback. In the scene, Adams and Franklin were quite taken by the powerful, articulate and beautiful way that Jefferson had crafted the document and made some minor word substitutions.  Whether or not this portrayal was historically accurate, it was captivating to realize that this declaration that founded our country was primarily a creation from the mind and heart of one man… Thomas Jefferson.  

In addition to his participation in writing these formative documents, Jefferson was the wartime Governor of Virginia from 1779–1781, our first Secretary of State from 1789–1793 and served as our second Vice President from 1797–1801. He was elected as our 3rd president and served in this capacity from 1801–1809.  During his presidency, he oversaw the Louisiana Purchase in1803 and the helped sponsor Lewis and Clark’s expedition in 1804–1806, which resulted in a greatly expanded country for our European-American ancestors, (but at the expense of course for our Native Americans).

He was a Renaissance man, excelling as an author, horticulturist, architect, archaeologist, statesman, paleontologist, farmer and inventor.

In 1962 President John F. Kennedy hosted a large group of Nobel Prize winners at the White House. In his remarks to the group he stated, “I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent and of human knowledge that has ever been gathered together at the White House – with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.”

“And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.”

- Thomas Jefferson ((1743-1826)

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“Do not bite at the bait of pleasure till you know there is no hook beneath it.”

 

“Enlighten the people, generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like spirits at the dawn of day.”

 

“I cannot live without books.”

 

“I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.”

 

“Never fear the want of business. A man who qualifies himself well for his calling, never fails of employment.”

 

“I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.”

 

“Be polite to all, but intimate with few.”

 

“We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

 

“He who knows best knows how little he knows.”

 

“Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.”

 

“I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us that the less we use our power the greater it will be.”

 

“Never spend your money before you have earned it.”

 

“It is always better to have no ideas than false ones; to believe nothing, than to believe what is wrong.”

 

“Say nothing of my religion. It is known to God and myself alone. Its evidence before the world is to be sought in my life: if it has been honest and dutiful to society the religion which has regulated it cannot be a bad one.”

- Thomas Jefferson ((1743-1826)

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