#jefferson

We stand in the shadow of Jefferson who believed that a society founded upon the rule of law and liberty was dependent upon public education and the diffusion of knowledge. ↗

— Matt Blunt

#dependent #diffusion #education #founded #jefferson

Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and opressions of the body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day. ↗

— Thomas Jefferson

#jefferson #opression #tyranny #enlightenment

In America everybody is of the opinion that he has no social superiors, since all men are equal, but he does not admit that he has no social inferiors, for, from the time of Jefferson onward, the doctrine that all men are equal applies only upwards, not downwards. ↗

— Bertrand Russell

#admit #america #applies #doctrine #does

As the nation divided into Federalists and Republicans, each group called the other the worst name possible: "party". Most Americans feared the idea of party; believing that a society should unite to achieve the public good, they denounced parties as groups of ambitious men selfishly competing for power. Worse, parties were danger signals for a republic; if parties dominated a republic's politics, its days were numbered. ↗

— R.B. Bernstein

#parties #politics #republic #men

Our greatest leaders are neither dreamers nor dictators: They are, like Jefferson, those who articulate national aspirations yet master the mechanics of influence and know when to depart from dogma. Jefferson had a remarkable capacity to marshal ideas and to move men, to balance the inspirational and the pragmatic. To realize his vision, he compromised and improvised. The willingness to do what he needed to do in a given moment makes him an elusive historical figure. Yet in the real world . . . his creative flexibility made him a transformative leader. ↗

— Jon Mecham

#leadership #inspirational

The boldness of his mind was sheathed in a scabbard of politeness. ↗

— Dumas Malone

#boldness #courtesy #mind #politeness #scabbard

I couldn't help but to think back to my classmates at Thomas Jefferson High School in San Antonio. They had the same talent, the same brains, the same dreams as the folks we sat with at Stanford and Harvard. I realized the difference wasn't one of intelligence or drive. The difference was opportunity. ↗

— Julian Castro

#back #brains #classmates #difference #dreams

Washington and Jefferson were both rich Virginia planters, but they were never friends. ↗

— Stephen Ambrose

#friends #jefferson #never #planters #rich

We went on stage with the Jefferson Airplane, Jim started singing with Grace Slick and hugging her. Then he danced off the stage, went back into the dressing room and passed out cold. ↗

— Ray Manzarek

#back #cold #danced #dressing #dressing room

From Jefferson to Jackson to Lincoln to FDR to Reagan, every great president inspires enormous affection and enormous hostility. We'll all be much saner, I think, if we remember that history is full of surprises and things that seemed absolutely certain one day are often unimaginable the next. ↗

— Jon Meacham

#affection #certain #day #enormous #every