"How soon the labor of men would..." - Quote by Thomas Jefferson
How soon the labor of men would make a paradise of the earth were it not for misgovernment and a diversion of his energies to selfish interests.
More by Thomas Jefferson
“The excellence of every government is its adaptation to the state of those to be governed by it.”
“The fortune of our lives depends on employing well the short period of our youth.”
“Students of reading, writing and common arithmetick . . . Graecian [Greek], Roman, English and American history . . . should be rendered . . . worthy to receive, and able to guard the sacred deposit of the rights and liberties of their fellow citizens.”
More on Governance
“I only wish, while I am a servant of the public, to know the will of my masters, that I may govern my self accordingly.”
“Public instruction should be the first object of government.”
“To make Democracy work, you need an aristocratic democracy. To make Aristocracy work, you need a democratic aristocracy.”
More on Progress
“We must not stay as we are, doing always what was done last time; or we shall stick in the mud.”
“Invention breeds invention. No sooner is the electric telegraph devised than gutta-percha, the very material it requires, is found. The aeronaut is provided with gun-cotton, the very fuel he wants for his balloon.”
“Improving your life doesn’t have to be about changing everything – it’s about making changes that count.”