To the corruptions of Christianity I am indeed, opposed; but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus himself. I am a Christian in the only sense in which he wished anyone to be; sincerely attached to his doctrines in preference to all others; ascribing to himself every human excellence; and believing he never claimed any […]
Thomas Jefferson Quotes
And the day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a Virgin Mary, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter… But we may hope that the dawn of reason and freedom of thought in […]
It is while we are young that the habit of industry is formed. If not then, it never is afterwards. The fortune of our lives, therefore, depends on employing well the short period of youth.
I deem it the duty of every man to devote a certain portion of his income for charitable purposes; and that it is his further duty to see it so applied as to do the most good of which it is capable.
I had laid it down as a law to myself, to take no notice of the thousand calumnies issued against me. But to trust my character to my own conduct, and the good sense and candor of my fellow citizens.
I thought the work would be very innocent, and one which might be confined to the reason of any man; not likely to be much read if let alone, but, if persecuted, it will be vindication of his rights to buy, and to read what he pleases.
The people are the only censors of their governors, and even their errors will tend to keep these to the true principles of their institution.
No government ought to be without censors; and where the press is free, no one ever will.
I am really mortified to be told that, in the United States of America, a fact like this can become a subject to inquiry, and of criminal inquiry, too, as an offense against religion; that a question about the sale of a book can be carried before the civil magistrate. Is this then our freedom […]
If M. de Becourt’s book be false in its facts, disprove them; if false in its reasoning, refute it. But, for God’s sake, let us freely hear both sides, if we choose.
