Thomas Jefferson

[♦ nivek ♦]

"Nature intended me for the tranquil

pursuits of science, by rendering

them my supreme delight.

But the enormities of the times

in which I have lived

have forced me to commit myself

on the boisterous ocean

of political passions."

-- Thomas Jefferson

(1743-1826), US Founding Father, drafted the Declaration of Independence, 3rd US President

http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/T...rson.Quote.1138

 

 

"No man will ever bring out of the Presidency

the reputation which carries him into it."

-- Thomas Jefferson

(1743-1826), US Founding Father, drafted the Declaration of Independence, 3rd US President

http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/T...rson.Quote.52FF

 

 

"I do believe that General Washington had not a firm confidence in the

durability of our government. He was naturally distrustful of men, and inclined

to gloomy apprehensions; and I was ever persuaded that a belief that we must at

length end in something like a British constitution, had some weight in his

adoption of the ceremonies of levees, birthdays, pompous meetings with

Congress, and other forms of the same character, calculated to prepare us

gradually for a change which he believed possible, and to let it come on with

as little shock as might be to the public mind."

-- Thomas Jefferson

(1743-1826), US Founding Father, drafted the Declaration of Independence, 3rd US President

http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/T...rson.Quote.DEE9

[Steel]

Good stuff.

 

 

Same author, different sentiments:

 

* "It is too late in the day for men of sincerity to pretend they believe in the Platonic mysticism that three are one and one is three, and yet, that the one is not three, and the three are not one.... But this constitutes the craft, the power, and profits of the priests. Sweep away their gossamer fabrics of fictitious religion, and they would catch no more flies."

- Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Adams, 1813

 

 

* "I have recently been examining all the known superstitions of the world, and do not find in our particular superstition [Christianity] one redeeming feature. They are all alike, founded upon fables and mythologies"

- Thomas Jefferson, letter to Dr. Woods

 

 

* "The serious enemies are the priests of the different religious sects to whose spells on the human mind its improvement is ominous."

-Thomas Jefferson, Works, Vol. IV., p. 322

 

 

"Read the Bible as you would Livy or Tacitus. For example, in the book of Joshua we are told the sun stood still for several hours. Were we to read that fact in Livy or Tacitus we should class it with their showers of blood, speaking of their statues, beasts, etc. But it is said that the writer of that book was inspired. Examine, therefore, candidly, what evidence there is of his having been inspired. The pretension is entitled to your inquiry, because millions believe it. On the other hand, you are astronomer enough to know how contrary it is to the law of nature."

-Thomas Jefferson, Works, Vol. II., p. 217

 

 

"Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear."

- Thomas Jefferson, letter to Peter Carr, August 10, 1787

 

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"It is very certain that [Thomas Jefferson] did not believe at all in the divine origin of Christianity, and of course not in the inspiration of the Scriptures; even of the New Testament."

-George Tucker, The Life of Thomas Jefferson, 1837

[Guest QuidEstCaritas?]

Goddamn right.

 

Thomas Jefferson was the man.