"The execution of the laws is more..." - Quote by Thomas Jefferson
The execution of the laws is more important than the making of them.
More by Thomas Jefferson
“The benefit of even limited monopolies is too doubtful, to be opposed to that of their general suppression.”
“I am savage enough to prefer the woods, the wilds, and the independence of Monticello, to all the brilliant pleasures of this gaycapital [Paris].”
“A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be your constant companion of your walks.”
More on Law
“Culture itself is neither education nor law-making: it is an atmosphere and a heritage.”
“...I believe that it is not enough, as I said, to tinker at the margins of U.S. immigration law... the United States must institute comprehensive reforms that conform to the realities of the era in which we live.”
“I told myself, "Lincoln, you can never make a lawyer if you do not understand what demonstrate means." So I left my situation in Springfield, went home to my father's house, and stayed there till I could give any proposition in the six books of Euclid at sight. I then found out what "demonstrate" means, and went back to my law studies.”
More on Governance
“Should things go wrong at any time, the people will set them to rights by the peaceable exercise of their elective rights.”
“Let the country be small, and the inhabitants few.”
“So the state founded on natural principles is wise as a whole in virtue of the knowledge inherent in its smallest constituent class, which exercises authority over the rest. And the smallest class is the one which naturally possesses that form of knowledge which alone of all others deserves the title of wisdom.”