Many will have seen this already, but it is so worthy of sharing I felt compelled to put it out there again. Be sure to read the quotes at the bottom from Jefferson himslef, and take a moment to reflect upon how the state of our nation today makes a brilliant case for the clarity of Thomas Jefferson's vision.
"My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government."
Jefferson the Scholar:
Jefferson was a remarkable man who began his learning very early in life and never stopped.
- At 5, he began studying under his cousins' tutor.
- At 9, he studied Latin, Greek and French.
- At 14, he studied classical literature and additional languages.
- At 16, he entered the College of William and Mary.
- At 19, he studied Law for 5 years, starting under George Wythe.
- At 23, he started his own law practice.
- At 25, he was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses.
- At 31, he wrote the widely circulated "Summary View of the Rights of British America " and retired from his law practice.
- At 32, he was a Delegate to the Second Continental Congress.
- At 33,he wrote the Declaration of Independence.
- At 33, he took three years to revise Virginia 's legal code and wrote a Public Education bill and a statute for Religious Freedom
- At 36, he was elected the second Governor of Virginia succeeding Patrick Henry.
- At 40, he served in Congress for two years.
- At 41, he was the American minister to France and negotiated commercial treaties with European nations along with Ben Franklin and John Adams.
- At 46, he served as the first Secretary of State under George Washington.
- At 53, he served as Vice President and was elected president of the American Philosophical Society.
- At 55,he drafted the Kentucky Resolutions and became the active head of Republican Party.
- At 57, he was elected the third president of the United States .
- At 60, he obtained the Louisiana Purchase , doubling the nation's size.
- At 61, he was elected to a second term as President.
- At 65, he retired to Monticello .
- At 80, he helped President Monroe shape the Monroe Doctrine.
- At 81, he almost singlehandedly created the University of
- Virginia and served as its first president.
- At 83, he died, on the 50th anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence along with John Adams
JFK on Jefferson:
John F. Kennedy held a dinner in the white House for a group of the brightest minds in the nation at that time. He made this statement:
"This is perhaps the assembly of the most intelligence ever to gather at one time in the White House with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."
Jefferson the Visionary:
Thomas Jefferson knew because he himself had studied the previously failed attempts at government. He understood actual history, the nature of God, God's laws, and the nature of man. That happens to be way more than what most understand today. His is a voice from the past to lead us into the future.
"When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe , we shall become as corrupt as Europe."
"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."
"It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes, a principle which if acted on, would save one-half the wars of the world."
"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."
"No free man shall ever be deprived the use of arms."
"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
"To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical."
Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:
"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property - until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."
