My only fear is that I may live too long. This would be a subject of dread to me.

I have done for my country, and for all mankind, all that I could do, and I now resign my soul, without fear, to my God - my daughter to my country.

Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.

Experience demands that man is the only animal which devours his own kind, for I can apply no milder term to the general prey of the rich on the poor.

To penetrate and dissipate these clouds of darkness, the general mind must be strengthened by education.

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

I cannot live without books.

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

The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.

Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation, and freedom in all just pursuits.

It is neither wealth nor splendor; but tranquility and occupation which give you happiness.

Happiness is not being pained in body or troubled in mind.

It is in our lives and not our words that our religion must be read.

Difference of opinion is advantageous in religion. The several sects perform the office of a Censor - over each other.

Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.

I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.

I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.

A Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference.

History, in general, only informs us of what bad government is.

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.

A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.

Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.

The republican is the only form of government which is not eternally at open or secret war with the rights of mankind.

It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.

So confident am I in the intentions, as well as wisdom, of the government, that I shall always be satisfied that what is not done, either cannot, or ought not to be done.

Truth is certainly a branch of morality and a very important one to society.

Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.

The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive.

No government ought to be without censors; and where the press is free no one ever will.

If we can but prevent the government from wasting the labours of the people, under the pretence of taking care of them, they must become happy.

Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories.

The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.

That government is the strongest of which every man feels himself a part.

I own that I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive.

Conquest is not in our principles. It is inconsistent with our government.

The second office in the government is honorable and easy; the first is but a splendid misery.

He who knows nothing is closer to the truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors.

I was bold in the pursuit of knowledge, never fearing to follow truth and reason to whatever results they led, and bearding every authority which stood in their way.

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

One travels more usefully when alone, because he reflects more.

Taste cannot be controlled by law.

When a man assumes a public trust he should consider himself a public property.

Money, not morality, is the principle commerce of civilized nations.

Wisdom I know is social. She seeks her fellows. But Beauty is jealous, and illy bears the presence of a rival.

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.

There is not a sprig of grass that shoots uninteresting to me.

Whenever a man has cast a longing eye on offices, a rottenness begins in his conduct.

I have no ambition to govern men; it is a painful and thankless office.

Politics is such a torment that I advise everyone I love not to mix with it.