Quotes NOT From Jefferson

Annie

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Nov 22, 2003
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One of the things I came across in a hunt for others:

http://www.monticello.org/library/reference/quotes.html#confirm

Unconfirmed and Incorrectly Attributed Quotes

There are a number of quotes that we do not find in Thomas Jefferson's correspondence or other writings; in such cases, Jefferson should not be cited as the source. Among the most common of these spurious Jefferson quotes are:

* "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism."
* "We should build an aristocracy of achievement based on a democracy of opportunity."
* "An informed citizenry is the bulwark of a democracy."
* "Information is the currency of democracy."
* "A nation is as good as its values."
* There is nothing more unequal than the equal treatment of unequal people."
* "When the government fears the people, there is liberty; When the people fear the government, there is tyranny."
* "I have nothing but contempt for anyone who can spell a word only one way."
* "I am a big believer in luck. The harder I work, the more I have."

In other cases, quotes are often attributed to Jefferson but were actually said by others:

* "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." (John Philpot Curran)
* "Those who sacrifice freedom for safety deserve neither." (Benjamin Franklin)
* "That government is best which governs least." (Henry David Thoreau)
* "I am a revolutionary so my son can be a farmer so his son can be a poet." (John Adams)
 

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