Thomas Jefferson Quotes About Censorship

• Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Freedom, Media, Liberty

  Thomas Jefferson, Jerry Holmes (2002). “Thomas Jefferson: A Chronology of His Thoughts”, p.71, Rowman & Littlefield

• No government ought to be without censors; and where the press is free no one ever will.

  Thomas Jefferson

  4th Of July, Media, Government

  Thomas Jefferson, Jerry Holmes (2002). “Thomas Jefferson: A Chronology of His Thoughts”, p.133, Rowman & Littlefield

• I am opposed to any form of tyranny over the mind of man.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Religious, Men, Faith Religion

• Are we to have a censor whose imprimatur shall say what books may be sold, and what we may buy? And who is thus to dogmatize religious opinions for our citizens? Whose foot is to be the measure to which ours are all to be cut or stretched? Is a priest to be our inquisitor, or shall a layman, simple as ourselves, set up his reason as the rule of what we are to read, and what we must believe?

  Thomas Jefferson

  Religious, Book, Believe

  Thomas Jefferson (1855). “The Writings of Thomas Jefferson”, p.340

• I am mortified to be told that, in the United States of America, the sale of a book can become a subject of inquiry, and of criminal inquiry too.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Book, Thinking, America

  Thomas Jefferson (2011). “Jefferson on Freedom: Wisdom, Advice, and Hints on Freedom, Democracy, and the American Way”, p.41, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.

• Whose foot is to be the measure to which ours are all to be cut or stretched?

  Thomas Jefferson

  Cutting, Feet, Censorship

  Letter to N. G. Dufief, 19 Apr. 1814

• It is an insult to our citizens to question whether they are rational beings or not, and blasphemy against religion to suppose it cannot stand the test of truth and reason.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Atheism, Citizens, Tests

  Thomas Jefferson (2011). “The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Retirement Series, Volume 7: 28 November 1813 to 30 September 1814”, p.304, Princeton University Press

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