THOMAS JEFFERSON

"The boisterous sea of liberty is never without a wave."

"Experience declares that man is the only animal which devours his own kind; for I can apply no milder term to the governments of Europe, and to the general prey of the rich on the poor."

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."

"Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you."

"I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves ; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion."

"Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of Liberty."

"I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past."

"Be polite to all, but intimate with few."

"Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances."

"The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest."

"Some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem them like the ark of the covenant, too sacred to be touched."

"When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty."

"I was bold in the pursuit of knowledge, never fearing to follow truth and reason to whatever results they led."

"We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate."

"But friendship is precious, not only in the shade but in the sunshine of life; & thanks to a benevolent arrangement of things, the greater part of life is sunshine. I will recur for proof to the days we have lately passed. On these indeed the sun shone brightly."

"Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy, and I wish we may be permitted to pursue it."

"A great deal of love given to a few is better than a little to many."

"He who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it the second time."

"Difference of opinion is advantageous in religion. The several sects perform the office of a Censor morum over each other."

"Good wine is a necessity of life for me."

"It is reasonable that everyone who asks justice should do justice."

"Do not bite at the bait of pleasure till you know there is no hook beneath it."