I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever.
Politicians
Thomas Jefferson
Third U.S. president (1743-1826) and the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. He wrote "all men are created equal" while owning more than 600 enslaved people over his lifetime and fathering at least six children with Sally Hemings, an enslaved teenager in his household. As secretary of state, vice president, and president he authored the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, doubled the country's territory through the Louisiana Purchase, dispatched the Lewis and Clark expedition, and founded the University of Virginia. He died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of independence, only hours before his lifelong rival and friend John Adams.
View this figure's profile
Thomas Jefferson's Other Quotes
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.
I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.
I cannot live without books.
Related Quotes
Only that which is to be sought for its own sake is truly moral (honestum).
-- Panaetius
Human nature is evil; its goodness is the result of deliberate effort.
-- Xunzi
Compassion is the foundation of morality.
-- Arthur Schopenhauer
Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and reverence: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me.
-- Immanuel Kant
Decent business management is the most profitable approach in the long run, and business morality need not be as impoverished as it is often portrayed.
-- Robert Bosch
I should be sorry if I only entertained them; I wished to make them better.
-- George Frideric Handel