Some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem them like the ark of the covenant, too sacred to be touched... Laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind... We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy, as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.

Thomas Jefferson

More information about this quote

Topic

Legal theory Political theory Embracing change

Author

Thomas Jefferson

Medium

Letter

Genre

Political writing

Language

English

Time

1816 1810s 19th century

Occupation

Founding Father American President National leader Politician

From

United States

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Jefferson, Thomas. Letter to Samuel Kercheval. 12 July 1816.

Current Citation

Jefferson, Thomas. "Samuel Kercheval, July 12, 1816." 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 legal theory: “Some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem them…”
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A quote by Thomas Jefferson about legal theory: “Some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem them…”
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A quote by Thomas Jefferson about legal theory: “Some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem them…”
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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

It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.

Thomas Jefferson

Notes on the State of Virginia

More information about this quote
Topic
Freedom of religion

Author

Thomas Jefferson
Source
Notes on the State of Virginia
Genre
Political literature
Language
English
Time
1787 1780s 18th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Jefferson, Thomas [published anonymously]. Notes on the State of Virginia. Paris: Philippe Denis Pierres, 1785, query 17.

Current Citation

Jefferson, Thomas. Notes on the State of Virginia, edited by Frank Shuffelton. Penguin Classics, 1998, query 17.

Another quote from the 1810s

"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Ozymandias

Buy a book containing this poem at Amazon Buy a book containing this poem at Amazon
Read Ozymandias at Poetry Foundation
More information about this quote
Topic
Arrogance

Author

Percy Bysshe Shelley
Source
Ozymandias
Medium
Poem
Language
English
Time
1818 1810s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Shelley, Percy Bysshe. "Ozymandias." The Examiner. London: Leigh Hunt and John Hunt, 11 Jan. 1818, l. 10.

Current Citation

Shelley, Percy Bysshe. "Ozymandias." Percy Bysshe Shelley: The Major Works, edited by Zachary Leader and Michael O'Neill. Oxford University Press, 2009, I. 10.

Another quote about Legal theory

They are not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word "citizens" in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States.

Roger B. Taney

Dred Scott v. Sandford

Read this opinion at supreme.justia.com.
More information about this quote
Topic
Black Americans Citizenship Constitutional law Legal theory

Author

Roger B. Taney
Source
Dred Scott v. Sandford
Medium
Supreme Court opinion Legal opinion
Genre
Legal writing
Language
English
Time
1857 1850s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Taney, Roger B. United States, Supreme Court. Dred Scott v. Sandford. United States Reports, vol. 60, 6 Mar. 1857, pp. 393-633. Justia, supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/60/393/.