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In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own. It is error alone that needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.

— Thomas Jefferson a letter to Horatio Spofford (1814)

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Religion

More quotes by Thomas Jefferson

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

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

I have ever deemed it more honorable and profitable, too, to set a good example than to follow a bad one.

For a people who are free, and who mean to remain so, a well organized and armed militia is their best security.

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)

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All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom.

Albert Einstein Moral Decay (1937)

Science and religion are two human enterprises sharing many features.

Freeman Dyson Infinite in All Directions (1988)

The moment the idea is admitted into society, that property is not as sacred as the law of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.

John Adams A Defence of the Constitutions of Government (1787)

The Puritan hated bear-baiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators.

Thomas Babington Macaulay History of England (1849)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Thomas Jefferson (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.