
"It astonishes me to find... [that so
many] of our countrymen... should be contented to live under a system
which leaves to their governors the power of taking from them the trial
by jury in civil cases, freedom of religion, freedom of the press,
freedom of commerce, the
habeas corpus laws, and of yoking them with a
standing army. This is a degeneracy in the principles of
liberty...
which I [would not have expected for at least] four centuries."
- Thomas
Jefferson to William Stephens Smith, 1788

"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
control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from
them, but to inform their discretion by education."
- Thomas Jefferson,
letter to Wm. C. Jarvis, 1820
"There has never
been a golden age of liberty, and there never will be. People who value
freedom will always have to defend it from those who claim the right to
wield power over others."
No comments:
Post a Comment