"If once the people become inattentive to..." - Quote by Thomas Jefferson
If once the people become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, Judges and Governors, shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature, in spite of individual exceptions.
More by Thomas Jefferson
“Nobody can acquire honor by doing what is wrong.”
“I cannot live without books.”
“I... [proposed] three distinct grades of education, reaching all classes. 1. Elementary schools for all children generally, rich and poor. 2. Colleges for a middle degree of instruction, calculated for the common purposes of life and such as should be desirable for all who were in easy circumstances. And 3d. an ultimate grade for teaching the sciences generally and in their highest degree... The expenses of [the elementary] schools should be borne by the inhabitants of the county, every one in proportion to his general tax-rate. This would throw on wealth the education of the poor.”
More on Citizenship
“In the last analysis, my fellow country men, as we in America would be the first to claim, a people are responsible for the acts of their government.”
“I'm not a politician by profession. I am a citizen who decided I had to be personally involved in order to stand up for my own values and beliefs. My candidacy is based on my record, and for that matter, my entire life.”
“To be a citizen in a democracy, a human being must be given a healthy start.”
More on Vigilance
“Though written constitutions may be violated in moments of passion or delusion, yet they furnish a text to which those who are watchful may again rally and recall the people; they fix too for the people the principles of their political creed.”
“Abuse of power isn't limited to bad guys in other nations. It happens in our own country if we're not vigilant.”
“Card players have a saying: "It's all right to play if you keep your eyes on the deck" - which is another way of saving, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."”