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Thomas Jefferson on Freedom

1743–1826 United States

← All quotes by Thomas Jefferson

25 quotes

Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.

The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time; the hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them.

Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774)

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

Error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it.

Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.

All persons shall have full and free liberty of religious opinion; nor shall any be compelled to frequent or maintain any religious institution.

As pure a son of liberty as I have ever known.

To preserve the freedom of the human mind then and freedom of the press, every spirit should be ready to devote itself to martyrdom; for as long as we may think as we will, and speak as we think, the condition of man will proceed in improvement.

It behooves every man who values liberty of conscience for himself, to resist invasions of it in the case of others: or their case may, by change of circumstances, become his own.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with inherent and inalienable Rights; that among these, are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness...

The abolition of the evil is not impossible; it ought never therefore to be despaired of. Every plan should be adopted, every experiment tried, which may do something towards the ultimate object.

Letter to Frances Wright (1825)

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

We are not to expect to be translated from despotism to liberty in a featherbed.

Freedom of religion, restricted only from acts of trespass on that of others.

Letter to A. Coray (1823)

It it is a part of the price we pay for our liberty, which cannot be guarded but by the freedom of the press, nor that be limited without danger of losing it.

Add to the Empire of liberty an extensive and fertile Country thereby converting dangerous Enemies into valuable friends.

May it be to the world, what I believe it will be, (to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all), the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government.

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

If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be. The functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty and property of their constituents. There is no safe deposit for these but with the people themselves; nor can they be safe with them without information. Where the press is free, and every man able to read, all is safe.

Of liberty I would say that, in the whole plenitude of its extent, it is unobstructed action according to our will. But rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add "within the limits of the law" because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Thomas Jefferson (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.