Thomas Jefferson Quotes About Patriots

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  The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Strength, Wisdom, Veterans Day

  Letter to William Stephens Smith, 13 Nov. 1787

• The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Life, Time, Godly

  Thomas Jefferson (1774). “A Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774)”, p.31, Academic Resources Corp

• The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Freedom, War, Patriotic

  Thomas Jefferson (2010). “The Works of Thomas Jefferson: Correspondence 1786-1787”, p.263, Cosimo, Inc.

• Does the government fear us? Or do we fear the government? When the people fear the government, tyranny has found victory. The federal government is our servant, not our master!

  Thomas Jefferson

  Government, People, Southern

• I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever.

  Thomas Jefferson

  God, Country, War

  Notes on the State of Virginia, query 18 (1781 - 1785)

• A true patriot will defend his country from its government.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Country, Government, Patriot

• Very many and very meritorious were the worthy patriots who assisted in bringing back our government to its republican tack. To preserve it in that, will require unremitting vigilance.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Government, Revolution, Republican

  Thomas Jefferson (1829). “Memoir, Correspondence, and Miscellanies: From the Papers of Thomas Jefferson”, p.352

• What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Country, Freedom, Gun

  Letter toWilliam Stephens Smith, 13 Nov. 1787

• What country before ever existed a century and a half without a rebellion? And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Country, Freedom, Gun

  Letter to William Stephens Smith, 13 Nov. 1787

• We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Life, Change, Happiness

  Declaration of Independence (1776).

• The cement of this union is the heart-blood of every American.

  Thomas Jefferson

  4th Of July, Patriotic, Heart

  Thomas Jefferson, J. Jefferson Looney (2004). “The Papers of Thomas Jefferson: 1 October 1814 to 31 August 1815”, p.265, Princeton University Press

• My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy!

  Thomas Jefferson

  Freedom, 4th Of July, Patriotic

  Thomas Jefferson (1829). “Memoirs, correspondence and private papers of Thomas Jefferson, ed. by T.J. Randolph”, p.239

• A little rebellion now and then is a good thing. Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God. In order to flourish, the tree of Liberty needs the blood of patriots and tyrants.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Blood, Order, Tyrants

• The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time; the hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them. ... Love your neighbor as yourself and your country more than yourself. ... The boisterous sea of liberty is never without a wave. ... I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man. ... The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Country, Love You, Men

  Letter to William Stephens Smith, 13 Nov. 1787

• The patriot, like the Christian, must learn to bear revilings and persecutions as a part of his duty; and in proportion as the trial is severe, firmness under it becomes more requisite and praiseworthy. It requires, indeed, self-command. But that will be fortified in proportion as the calls for its exercise are repeated.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Christian, Exercise, Self

  Thomas Jefferson (1829). “Memoir, Correspondence, and Miscellanies: From the Papers of Thomas Jefferson”, p.37

• My heart trembles when I reflect that God is just

  Thomas Jefferson

  God, Patriotic, Heart

• Political dissension is doubtless a less evil than the lethargy of despotism: but still it is a great evil, and it would be as worthy the efforts of the patriot as of the philosopher, to exclude its influence if possible, from social life. The good are rare enough at best. There is no reason to subdivide them by artificial lines. But whether we shall ever be able so far to perfect the principles of society as that political opinions shall, in its intercourse, be as inoffensive as those of philosophy, mechanics, or any other, may well be doubted.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Philosophy, Political Opinions, Evil

  Thomas Jefferson, Brett F. Woods (2009). “Thomas Jefferson: Thoughts on War and Revolution : Annotated Correspondence”, p.137, Algora Publishing

• Would the honest patriot, in the full tide of successful experiment, abandon a government which has so far kept us free and firm on the theoretic and visionary fear that this Government, the world's best hope, may by possibility want energy to preserve itself? I trust not.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Successful, Government, Energy

  First Inaugural Address, 4 March 1801

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