"In a virtuous government, and more especially..." - Quote by Thomas Jefferson
In a virtuous government, and more especially in times like these, public offices are what they should be - burdens to those appointed to them which it would be wrong to decline, though foreseen to bring them intense labor and great private loss.
More by Thomas Jefferson
“Cultivators of the earth are the most virtuous and independent citizens.”
“We will be soldiers, so our sons may be farmers, so their sons may be artists”
“I could think of no worse example for nations abroad, who for the first time were trying to put free electoral procedures into effect, than that of the United States wrangling over the results of our presidential election, and even suggesting that the presidency itself could be stolen by thievery at the ballot box.”
More on Public Service
“Unwilling am I, in the evening of a life nearly consumed in public cares, to quit a peaceful abode for an Ocean of difficulties”
“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.”
“My job is not to represent Washington to you, but to represent you to Washington.”
More on Duty
“The State is the sum total of the sacrifice, on its behalf, of its members.”
“Pooper scooper? Yeah, I've done it a few times. Every once in a while, you have to.”
“If there is any one duty which more than another we owe it to our children and our children's children to perform at once, it is to save the forests of this country, for they constitute the first and most important element in the conservation of the natural resources of this country.”