The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest.
A Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774)
TJ
Thomas Jefferson quotes
1743-1826 ยท Presidents and world leaders
Principal author of the Declaration of Independence and third U.S. President.
6 quotes, 6 traced to where Jefferson said or wrote them.
I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.
Letter to John Adams (1816)
We are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it.
Letter to William Roscoe (1820)
There is not a truth existing which I fear or would wish unknown to the whole world.
Letter to Henry Lee (1826)
But though an old man, I am but a young gardener.
Letter to Charles Willson Peale (1811)
Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day.
Letter to Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1816)