Existing comment:
The people of every country are the only safe guardians of their own rights, and are the only instruments which can be used for their destruction. It is an axiom in my mind that our liberty can never be safe but in the hands of the people themselves, that, too, of the people with a certain degree of instruction.
[Jefferson to John Wyche, May 19, 1809 (first sentence); Jefferson to George Washington, January 4, 1786 (second sentence).] |