HOME
Message Board
CURRENT COLUMNS
- Editor's Corner
- Blogfest 2005
- Commentary
- Commentary Too
- Down The Middle
- Faulking Around
- Global Warning
- This guy walks into a bar...
- Investing 101
- Faulking Opinions
- Off The Rail
- Words
ARCHIVES
LINKS
CONTACT US
 | |||
Faulking Opinions - May 8, 2010 - Printable Version
- You Gotta Love Them Modern Jeffersonians
by Ken Shade
As I was perusing the sayings that the Tea (HC) Party crowd is putting on their signs, shirts, hats, coolers, canteens, barbecue aprons and bumper stickers, recently, I kept seeing the same Thomas Jefferson quotes over and over. They employed modern syntax, and seemed a little too perfect for the occasions. This made me suspicious, so I did some research. Just as I suspected, very few of them were actually said or written by Thomas Jefferson, or any "founding father."
I was not surprised to also see that many of the Thomas Jefferson "quotes" tossed around by the Left are spurious, as well. It seems anybody with a point and a desire to be taken seriously just writes a statement they want you to agree with, and writes "Thomas Jefferson" after it. Even my all-time favorite Thomas Jefferson quote: "Once you go black, you'll never go back," appears to have been of far more recent coinage.
The Thomas Jefferson encyclopedia actually did the research, I just googled. There are more of these in the encyclopedia than I have included here. I only used the ones I remembered from a recent placard, post card, patch or polemic.
If you're anything like me, you'll have a blast pointing it out to people when they're wrong.
KDS
"When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny."
Variations:
1. "When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."
2. "Does the government fear us? Or do we fear the government? When the people fear the government, tyranny has found victory. The federal government is our servant, not our master!"
3. “When the people fear the government, that's tyranny; when the government fears the people, that's freedom.”
Earliest known appearance in print: 1914
Earliest known appearance in print, attributed to Thomas Jefferson: 1994
Also sometimes attributed to Samuel Adams or Thomas Paine. neither one of them said it, either.
"A government big enough to supply you with everything you need, is a government big enough to take away everything that you have."
We have never found such a statement in Jefferson's writings. As far as we know, this statement actually originates with Gerald R. Ford, who said, "A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have," in an address to a joint session of Congress on August 12, 1974.
This quotation is sometimes followed by, "The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases," which is most likely a misquotation of Jefferson's comment, "The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield, and government to gain ground."
"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered...I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies... The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs."
Variations:
1. "If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered."
2. "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies..."
3. "The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs."
Earliest known appearance in print: 1937
This quotation is often cited as being in an 1802 letter to Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin, and/or "later published in The Debate Over the Recharter of the Bank Bill (1809)."
The first part of the quotation ("If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered") has not been found anywhere in Thomas Jefferson's writings, to Albert Gallatin or otherwise. It is identified in Respectfully Quoted as spurious, and the editor further points out that the words "inflation" and "deflation" did not come into use until 1864 and 1920, respectively.
The second part of the quotation ("I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies...") may well be a paraphrase of a statement Jefferson made in a letter to John Taylor in 1816. He wrote, "And I sincerely believe, with you, that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies; and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale."
The third part of this quotation ("The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs") may be a misquotation of Jefferson's comment to John Wayles Eppes, "Bank-paper must be suppressed, and the circulating medium must be restored to the nation to whom it belongs."
Lastly, we have not found a record of any publication called The Debate Over the Recharter of the Bank Bill. There was certainly debate over the recharter of the National Bank leading up to its expiration in 1811, but a search of Congressional documents of that period yields none of the verbiage discussed above.
"I would rather be judged by 12 farmers than 12 scholars."
This quotation has not appeared in print, although it was attributed to Jefferson by Glenn Beck in a December 18, 2009 appearance on The Jay Leno Show.
"Tyranny is defined as that which is legal for the government but illegal for the citizenry."
This quotation has not been found in any of the writings of Thomas Jefferson.
"My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government."
Variation:
"My reading of history convinces me that most bad government has grown out of too much government."
Earliest known appearance in print: 1913
Earliest known appearance in print, attributed to Jefferson: 1950
"That government is best which governs least."
Although this saying is often attributed to Thomas Jefferson, we have not found this particular statement in his writings.
Henry David Thoreau's Civil Disobedience (1849) is often identified as the real source of this quotation, but there may be an even earlier source. Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations points to The United States Magazine and Democratic Review, whose editor wrote in 1837, "The best government is that which governs least."
A number of sources attribute a "National Prayer of Peace" to Thomas Jefferson. The text is as follows:
Almighty God, Who has given us this good land for our heritage; We humbly beseech Thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of Thy favor and glad to do Thy will. Bless our land with honorable ministry, sound learning, and pure manners.
Save us from violence, discord, and confusion, from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitude brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues.
Endow with Thy spirit of wisdom those to whom in Thy Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that through obedience to Thy law, we may show forth Thy praise among the nations of the earth.
In time of prosperity fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in Thee to fail; all of which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
This prayer was not written or delivered by Thomas Jefferson. It is in fact from the 1928 United States Book of Common Prayer. Explanations of the 1928 revision of the Book of Common Prayer make no mention of an earlier source for the prayer, which is identified simply as "For Our Country"
"Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not."
Variations: 1. "Those who hammer their guns into plowshares will plow for those who do not."
Status: We have not found any evidence that Thomas Jefferson said or wrote this.
"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms...disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed one."
This is not something Jefferson wrote, but rather comes from a passage he included in his "Legal Commonplace Book." The passage is from Cesare Beccaria's Essay on Crimes and Punishments.
"The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first."
So far we have been unable to locate such a statement in any of Jefferson's writings. He did employ the phrase "chains of the Constitution" at least once, however, in the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798: "...in questions of power then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the constitution..."
"The Bible is the source of liberty."
This statement has not been found in any writings of Thomas Jefferson.
The first known appearance of this quotation, attributed to Jefferson, is in the book Our Public Schools - Christian or Secular, by Renwick Harper Martin. (1952)
"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."
Earliest known appearance in print: 1993
"I have examined all the known superstitions of the world, and I do not find in our particular superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature. They are all alike founded on fables and mythology."
Some sources cite this as being from a letter from Jefferson to a "Dr. Woods;" others claim it was to William Short, and still others do not cite a specific document. We have not found this quotation in any of Jefferson's known writings.
The following is sometimes appended to the above quotations:
"Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the earth."
This portion is, in fact, a genuine Jefferson quotation; it comes from his Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVII. Here is the quotation with the material that actually precedes it in Notes:
"Difference of opinion is advantageous in religion. The several sects perform the office of a Censor morum over each other. Is uniformity attainable? Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, imprisoned: yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error all over the earth."
"The Christian god can easily be pictured as virtually the same god as the many ancient gods of past civilizations. The Christian god is a three headed monster; cruel, vengeful and capricious. If one wishes to know more of this raging, three headed beast-like god, one only needs to look at the caliber of people who say they serve him. They are always of two classes: fools and hypocrites."
This quotation has not been found in any writings of Thomas Jefferson. However, it does bear some slight resemblance to several genuine Jefferson quotations, so it is feasible that the above could be traced back to these. On 8 December 1822, Jefferson wrote to James Smith,
No historical fact is better established than that the doctrine of one god, pure and uncompounded was that of the early ages of Christianity; and was among the efficacious doctrines which gave it triumph over the polytheism of the antients, sickened with the absurdities of their own theology. Nor was the unity of the supreme being ousted from the Christian creed by the force of reason, but by the sword of civil government wielded at the will of the fanatic Athanasius. The hocus-pocus phantasm of a god like another Cerberus with one body and three heads had it's birth and growth in the blood of thousands and thousands of martyrs. And a strong proof of the solidity of the primitive faith is it's restoration as soon as a nation arises which vindicates to itself the freedom of religious opinion, and it's eternal divorce from the civil authority. The pure and simply unity of the creator of the universe is now all but ascendant in the Eastern states; it is dawning in the West, and advancing towards the South; and I confidently expect that the present generation will see Unitarianism become the general religion of the United states. The Eastern presses are giving us many excellent pieces on the subject, and Priestly's learned writings on it are, or should be in every hand. In fact the Athanasian paradox that one is three, and three but one is so incomprehensible to the human mind that no candid man can say he has any idea of it, and how can he believe what presents no idea. He who thinks he does only decieves (sic) himself. He proves also that man, once surrendering his reason, has no remaining guard against absurdities the most monstrous, and like a ship without rudder is the sport of every wind. With such persons gullability (sic) which they call faith takes the helm from the hand of reason and the mind becomes a wreck.
Jefferson does also use the phrase "fools and hypocrites" (although not as such) in his famous passage in Query 17 on religion in his Notes on the State of Virginia:
Difference of opinion is advantageous in religion. The several sects perform the office of a Censor morum over each other. Is uniformity attainable? Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error all over the earth.
"The reason that Christianity is the best friend of Government is because Christianity is the only religion that changes the heart."
Variations:
1. "Christianity is the best friend of government because it deals with the heart." 2. "The reason Christianity is the best friend for government is because Christianity deals with the heart."
Earliest known appearance in print: 2001
"Democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where 51% of the people may take away the rights of the other 49%."
Variations:
1. "A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where 51 percent of the people may take away the rights of the other 49."
2. "A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine."
Earliest known appearance in print: 2005, but possibly as early as 1989
"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."
Variations: "Democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."
Earliest known appearance in print: 1986
Earliest known appearance in print, attributed to Jefferson: 1986
This exact quotation has not been found in any of the writings of Thomas Jefferson. It bears a very vague resemblance to Jefferson's comment in a prospectus for his translation of Destutt de Tracy's Treatise on Political Economy: "To take from one, because it is thought that his own industry, and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, ‘the guarantee to every one of a free exercise of his industry, & the fruits acquired by it.
"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism."
Dissent is the highest form of patriotism" is often attributed to Thomas Jefferson, but to date we have found no evidence that he said or wrote this.
"Yes, we did produce a near-perfect republic. But will they keep it? Or will they, in the enjoyment of plenty, lose the memory of freedom? Material abundance without character is the path of destruction."
Earliest known appearance in print: 1960
1960 was also the year of my earliest known appearance, and I'd like to be taken seriously, too. so, here's my addition to the ever-growing list of ersatz Jefferson quotes:
"Mitch McConnell (R - KY) is a rectal wart of a man!"
Thomas Jefferson, in "La nuit dernière, j'ai mangé quelques petits champignons peu communs. J'ai voyagé dans le futur, où j'ai vu un sénateur sans le menton....MERDE SAINTE ! Où sont mes jambes?" (1779)
Voice your opinion on our message board (you don't have to sign up to post).