A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the highest duties of a good citizen: but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation.

Thomas Jefferson

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More information about this quote

Topic

Rule of law Civic duty Citizenship

Author

Thomas Jefferson

Medium

Letter

Language

English

Time

1810 1810s 19th century

Occupation

Founding Father American President National leader Politician

From

United States

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Jefferson, Thomas. Letter to John B. Colvin. 20 Sept. 1810.

Current Citation

Jefferson, Thomas. "J. B. Colvin, Sep. 20, 1810." The Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Including the Autobiography, The Declaration of Independence & His Public and Private Letters, edited by Adrienne Koch and William Peden. Modern Library, 1998.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by Thomas Jefferson about rule of law: “A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the highest…”
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A quote by Thomas Jefferson about rule of law: “A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the highest…”
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A quote by Thomas Jefferson about rule of law: “A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the highest…”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote by Thomas Jefferson

I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it.

Thomas Jefferson

More information about this quote
Topic
Downsides of freedom Freedom

Author

Thomas Jefferson
Medium
Letter
Language
English
Time
1791 1790s 18th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Jefferson, Thomas. Letter to Archibald Stuart. 23 Dec. 1791.

Another quote from the 1810s

Given for one instant an intelligence which could comprehend all the forces by which nature is animated and the respective positions of the beings which compose it, if moreover this intelligence were vast enough to submit these data to analysis, it would embrace in the same formula both the movements of the largest bodies in the universe and those of the lightest atom; to it nothing would be uncertain. And the future as the past would be present to its eyes.

Pierre-Simon Laplace

More information about this quote
Topic
Predicting the future Determinism

Author

Pierre-Simon Laplace
Source
A Philosophical Essay on Probabilities
Language
French
Time
1812 1810s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Laplace, Pierre-Simon. Theorie Analytique des Probabilities [Analytic Theory of Probability]. Paris: Madame Va Courcier, 1812.