Thomas Jefferson Quotes about History

One never really knows how much one has been touched by a place until one has left it.

One never really knows how much one has been touched by a place until one has left it.

History, Historical, Humour

A morsel of genuine history is a thing so rare as to be always valuable.

Wisdom, Government, History

Thomas Jefferson (1854). “The Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Correspondence, contin. Reports and opinions while Secretary of State”, p.82

History, in general, only informs us of what bad government is.

Thomas Jefferson

Government, History, Historical

Thomas Jefferson (1829). “Memoirs, Correspondence, and Private Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Late President of the United States”, p.82

The same political parties which now agitiate the US have existed through all time. And in fact the terms of whig and tory belong to natural as well as to civil history. They denote the temper and constitution and mind of different individuals.

Thomas Jefferson

Party, History, Political

History has informed us that bodies of men as well as individuals are susceptible of the spirit of tyranny.

Thomas Jefferson

Men, History, Body

Thomas Jefferson (1774). “A summary view of the rights of British America: Set forth in some resolutions intended for the inspection of the present delegates of the people of Virginia, now in convention ...”, p.7

History teaches the young the virtues of freedom. By apprising them of the past it will enable them to judge the future.

Thomas Jefferson

Past, History, Judging

We might have been a free and great people together.

Thomas Jefferson

People, History, Together

Thomas Jefferson (2010). “The Works of Thomas Jefferson: Correspondence 1771 - 1779, the Summary View, and the Declaration of Independence”, p.215, Cosimo, Inc.

There is on the globe one single spot, the possessor of which is our natural and habitual enemy. It is New Orleans, through which the produce of three-eighths of our territory must pass to market, and from its fertility it will ere long yield more than half of our whole produce and contain more than half our inhabitants.

Thomas Jefferson

Yield, New Orleans, History

Thomas Jefferson (1829). “Memoir, correspondence, and miscellanies from the papers of T. Jefferson”, p.492