Quote
By Thomas Jefferson
the functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty & property of their constituents. there is no safe deposit for these but with the people themselves; nor can they be safe with them without information. where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe.
- Source
- Letter to Charles Yancey, January 6, 1816 · The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Retirement Series, vol. 9
- Read at
- Founders Online, National Archives
Share this quote
About this quote
A letter to Charles Yancey, January 6, 1816. In the same paragraph Jefferson argues for primary schools and a university in Virginia. Jefferson often began sentences with a lowercase letter and wrote & for and, and the Papers keep that.