Thomas Jefferson

An association of men who will not quarrel with one another is a thing which has never yet existed, from the greatest confederacy of nations down to a town meeting or a vestry.

But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life; and thanks to a benevolent arrangement of things, the greater part of life is sunshine.

Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing.

Do not bite the bait of pleasure till you know there is no hook beneath it.

If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.

No more good must be attempted than the people can bear.
- All from Thomas Jefferson, 1743 - 1826

About: Thomas Jefferson was born at Shadwell, in the hill country of Virginia, on 13 Apr in 1743. At a White House gathering of American Nobel laureates, Jack Kennedy remarked, "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House - with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone." By far my favorite among the founding fathers, I could as easily have chosen to send a hundred of his quotes as this half dozen.