Thomas Jefferson Quotes

In democracies the people seem to act as they please.

The people will save their government, if the government itself will allow them.

I know of 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, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education.

Democracy is much too important to be left to public opinion.

The preservation of freedom is in the hands of the people themselves — not of the government.

We... are not really free if we can't control our own government and its policies. And we will never do that if we remain ignorant.

Democracy is not something you put away for ten years, and then in the 11th year you wake up and start practicing again. We have to begin to learn to rule ourselves again.

There is too much government today. We've got to remember the government should be by the people, of the people, and for the people.

Our government is founded upon the intelligence of the people. I for one do not despair of the republic. I have great confidence in the virtue of the great majority of the people, and I cannot fear the result.

Power in politics, sovereignty in America is with we the people, and that is the path to turning this country around: empowering the people.

While democracy must have its organization and controls, its vital breath is individual liberty.

I ask the rights to pursue happiness by having a voice in that government to which I am accountable.

Too many people expect wonders from democracy, when the most wonderful thing of all is just having it.

The freedom to persuade and suggest is the essence of the democratic process.

Democracy, once unleashed, is a pretty powerful force.

The great postulate of our democracy is confidence in the common sense of the people and in their maturity of judgment, even on great issues—once they know the facts.

Let The People Rule

A popular government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy; or perhaps both ... And a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power that knowledge gives.

The most profound argument for democracy is its faith in man.

Give all of the governed a voice in their government; that and that alone is self government.

How necessary for modern liberty a national representative government is—a representative system comprehending the whole state

Where there is only a national representative government without local self-government, there is no liberty as we understand it

The people made this government, and not the government the people. Destroy the intelligence of the people, and the government could not exist for a day; — destroy this government, and the people would create another, and yet another, of no less perfect symmetry.

A democracy depends on its people, the literate and the well read.

Our form of government depends on a mutual bond of trust between the people and their government. But people have become cynical about their government.