I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.
Author · 33 quotes
Thomas Jefferson was an American Founding Father who served as the third President of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He is best known for being the primary author of the Declaration of Independence and for his advocacy of democracy, republicanism, and individual rights. Jefferson also founded the University of Virginia and was a prominent architect, inventor, and philosopher.
1743–1826·lived 83 years
I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.
I believe that every human mind feels pleasure in doing good to another.
The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.
It is neither wealth nor splendor; but tranquility and occupation which give you happiness.
Money, not morality, is the principle commerce of civilized nations.
The glow of one warm thought is to me worth more than money.Extract from Thomas Jefferson to Charles McPherson, 25 Feb, 1773
Never spend your money before you have earned it.A dozen Canons of conduct in Life, 1811
Leave all the afternoon for exercise and recreation, which are as necessary as reading. I will rather say more necessary because health is worth more than learning.To John Garland Jefferson New York, June 11, 1790
Experience demands that man is the only animal which devours his own kind, for I can apply no milder term to the general prey of the rich on the poor.Notes on the State of Virginia, 1785
Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.Notes on the State of Virginia, 1785
Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.Notes on the State of Virginia, 1785
Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.Notes on the State of Virginia, Query 19, 1785
There is a natural aristocracy among men. The grounds of this are virtue and talents.Notes on the State of Virginia, 1785
One travels more usefully when alone, because he reflects more.Letter to John Banister, Jr., June 19, 1787
I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country.Extract from Thomas Jefferson to George Logan, 12 Nov, 1816
Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.Letter to Richard Price, January 8, 1789
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.Declaration of Independence, 1776
One man with courage is a majority.
If we had paid no more attention to our plants than we have to our children, we would now be living in a jungle of weed.
Independence I have long considered as the grand blessing of life, the basis of every virtue; and independence I will ever secure by contracting my wants, though I were to live on a barren heath.Autobiography, 1821
In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.Monticello, 2011
No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden.Letter to Charles Willson Peale, August 20, 1811
When angry count to ten before you speak. If very angry, count to one hundred.Letter to Thomas Jefferson Smith, Feb. 21, 1825
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.Extract from Thomas Jefferson to Martha Jefferson (Randolph), 5 May 1787
Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far.Letter to Peter Carr, 1785
I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever.Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII, 1785
I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.
Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.Letter to Nathaniel Macon, January 12, 1819
Beer, if drunk in moderation, softens the temper, cheers the spirit and promotes health.
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.Letter to William Stephens Smith, 1787
Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.Do you want to know who you are? ... [Spurious Quote], Monticello, 2008
Never spend money before you have it.Extract from Thomas Jefferson to Cornelia J. Randolph, [ca. 1805–1810]
He who knows nothing is closer to the truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors.Letter to John Novell, June 11, 1807
That’s all 33 quotes by Thomas Jefferson.