A very smart man.......



Thomas Jefferson in some cases could be called a prophet.

When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe,
we shall become as corrupt as Europe.
Thomas Jefferson

The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those
who are willing to work and give to those who would not.
Thomas Jefferson

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.
Thomas Jefferson

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.
Thomas Jefferson

My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results
from too much government.
Thomas Jefferson

No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.
Thomas Jefferson

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.
Thomas Jefferson

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of
patriots and tyrants.
Thomas Jefferson

To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which
he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.
Thomas Jefferson

Very Interesting Quote

In light of the present financial crisis, it's interesting to read what 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.'


BUT the Congress of 2009 hasen't the fortude or not the will to understand what is.


As they have but all to Gain.

God help the weak.

Thank you Jeffro, for this interesting post. But by now I am sure that by now you know how I strongly dislike seeing lies, misquotes or outright fabrications used to try to support a point of view. I am not accusing you of doing these things - I am absolutely certain that you simply copied this list from somewhere else and passed it along without bothering to even wonder if it was true or not.

Unfortunately, that does not change the fact that most of this list is pure fabrication.

Jefferson never said: "The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those
who are willing to work and give to those who would not".

Jefferson never said: "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 quote "No freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms." was taken from Jefferson's first draft of the State of Virginia's state constitution and had no reference or relevance to the U.S. as a whole. The interesting thing is that Jefferson wrote three drafts of the Virginia constitution this sentence changed dramatically between the 1st and 2nd drafts:

First Draft: "No freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms."

Second Draft: "No freeman shall be debarred the use of arms within his own lands or tenements." [Boy, that kind of changes the meaning, doesn't it? The third draft was the same as this second draft. And the final contitution that was adopted did not include the sentence at all]

Jefferson never said: "My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government." [Some Jefferson scholars think that this may be a bad misquote of an actual Jefferson quote that "History, in general, only informs us what bad government is."]

Jefferson never said : "To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical."

It is the "with his taxes" part that was added that makes this one a lie. Jefferson actually did say "To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical." But it had nothing at all to do with taxes. Jefferson said it in his discussions of religious freedom in the Statute of Religion in 1779.

He was insisting on the necessity of ending the ability of the church to demand tithes under the force of law - prior to the Revolution, the Church of England routinely collected tithes as though they were taxes - regardless of whether a person was a member of the Church of England or not. Failure to pay the tithes could result in fines and even imprisonment. Jefferson wanted this practce stopped outright. He also wanted to insure that there would be no State church, but that is another issue.


In the interest of brevity, I will not include the entire last quote. I will just say that Jefferson never said it, in 1802 or any other time.

In 1816, Jefferson did did say in a letter to his friend John Taylor, "And I sincerely believe, with you, that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies; and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale." [It seems clear that whoever created the bogus quote pulled part of it from the first half of this statement by Jefferson.]

Why do you suppose that the right wing so often finds it necessary to lie and manufacture this kind of stuff, Jeffro?

Is it that they are unable to find quotes from honorable people that would support their positions? Or do you think that maybe they are simply so lazy that dishonesty is easier than the work required to find honest information?

JackB,

The latter. As I have posted before Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) has been quoted, "Mankind has a great aversion to intellectual labor; but even supposing knowledge to be easily attainable, more people would be content to be ignorant than would take even a little trouble to acquire it."

John R...

ah the new year is upon us already