#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

After the Great Depression and after public urging, a nationwide public competition was held to determine a design for a memorial that would honor President Thomas Jefferson's bold vision for westward expansion for America. ↗

— Russ Carnahan

#america #bold #competition #depression #design

When we seek to understand liberty, equality, progress, constitutional governance, separation of church and state, and the meaning of the American Revolution, we do so in contexts framed by Jefferson's writings and arguments. Whatever we think of Jefferson as a person or as a politician, we can never take away from him his remarkable gift as a writer or his ultimate claims to fame. He achieved his intention to express 'the American mind' and became the leading spokesman for the revolution of ideas that changed, and that continues to change, the face of America and the world. His words mean not only what he might have intended them to mean, but also what succeeding generations of Americans have read into them. Thus, whether he would even comprehend the United States in the first years of the twenty-first century, Jefferson's shadow looms large over us, thanks to the conflicting influences of his thinking, doing, and -- most important -- his writing. That truth alone requires each generation to reacquaint itself with the life and work of Thomas Jefferson, and to grapple with his ambiguous legacies. ↗

— R.B. Bernstein

#change

Well, you know, Thomas Jefferson, who was the author of the Declaration of Independence said he wouldn't have any atheists in his cabinet because atheists wouldn't swear an oath to God. That was Jefferson and we have never had any Muslims in the cabinet. ↗

— Pat Robertson

#atheists #author #because #cabinet #declaration

We know of no spectacle more ridiculous—or more contemptible—than that of the religious reactionaries who dare to re-write the history of our republic. Or who try to do so. Is it possible that, in their vanity and stupidity, they suppose that they can erase the name of Thomas Jefferson and replace it with the name of some faith-based mediocrity whose name is already obscure? If so, we cheerfully resolve to mock them, and to give them the lie in their teeth. ↗

— Christopher Hitchens

#history #thomas-jefferson #united-states #faith

‎Some of my finest hours have been spent on my back veranda, smoking hemp and observing as far as my eye can see. ↗

— Thomas Jefferson

#marijuana #pot-smoking #thomas-jefferson #verenda #observation

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

Jesus and Lincoln, Moses and Jefferson can seem so long gone, so unbelievable, so dead. ↗

— Sarah Vowell

#gone #jefferson #jesus #lincoln #long

Washington, not Jefferson, freed his slaves upon his death. ↗

— Stephen Ambrose

#freed #his #jefferson #slaves #upon