Quotes from Thomas Jefferson

A single good government is a blessing to the whole earth.

An hereditary aristocracy... will change the form of our governments from the best to the worst in the world.

No one, I hope, can doubt my wish to see... all mankind exercising self-government, and capable of exercising it. But the question is not what we wish, but what is practicable.

Those are governed best who are governed least.

It will be said that great societies cannot exist without government.

Man ... feels that he is a participator in the government of affairs not merely at an election, one day in the year, but every day.

The only greater [evil] than separation... [is] living under a government of discretion.

The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government and to protect its free expression should be our first object.

That government is best which governs the least because its people discipline themselves.

The purpose of government is to enable the people of a nation to live in safety and happiness. Government exists for the interests of the governed, not for the governors.

Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness.

A mind always employed is always happy. This is the true secret, the grand recipe, for felicity.

Motherhood is the keystone of the arch of matrimonial happiness.

Each generation has a right to choose for itself the form of government it believes most promotive of its happiness.

Industry, commerce and security are the surest roads to the happiness and prosperity of people.

We wish the happiness and prosperity of every nation.

If the Wise be the happy man... he must be virtuous too; for, without virtue, happiness cannot be. This then is the true scope of all academical emulation.

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

Happiness is not being pained in body nor troubled in mind.

Leave all the afternoon for exercise and recreation, which are as necessary as reading. I will rather say more necessary because health is worth more than learning.

Beer, if drank with moderation, softens the temper, cheers the spirit, and promotes health.

The superiority of chocolate (hot chocolate), both for health and nourishment, will soon give it the same preference over tea and coffee in America which it has in Spain.

The most uninformed mind with a healthy body is happier than the wisest valetudinarian.

Without health there is no happiness. An attention to health, then, should take the place of every other object.