Quotations on the Jefferson Memorial

Below are listed the quotations shown on the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. Some of the quotations
appear in edited form on the memorial, so when appropriate, we have also posted the passages from which
the selections were taken, with the quoted excerpts in bold.

Content
s
1 Inscripti
on under
the Dome
2 Panel
One
3 Panel
Two
3.1 Origin
al
Passage
4 Panel
Three
4.1 Origin
al
Passages
5 Panel
Four
5.1 Origin
al
Passage
6 Footnot
es
7 Further
Sources

Inscription under the Dome

"...I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." Jefferson to Dr. Benjamin Rush, September 23, 1800[1]

Panel One
"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, that to
secure these rights governments are instituted among men. We...solemnly publish and declare, that these
colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent states...And for the support of this declaration,
with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes, and
our sacred honor." - The Declaration of Independence[2]

Panel Two
"Almighty God hath created the mind free. All attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or
burthens...are a departure from the plan of the Holy Author of our religion...No man shall be compelled to
frequent or support any religious worship or ministry or shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious
opinions or belief, but all men shall be free to profess and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters
of religion. I know but one code of morality for men whether acting singly or collectively."
ORIGINAL PASSAGE
"Well aware that the opinions and belief of men depend not on their own will, but follow involuntarily the
evidence proposed to their minds; thatAlmighty God hath created the mind free, and manifested his
supreme will that free it shall remain by making it altogether insusceptible of restraint; that all attempts to
influence it by temporal punishments, or burthens, or by civil incapacitations, tend only to beget habits
of hypocrisy and meanness, and are a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion..."
- "A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom", Section I[3]

Jefferson Memorial, Washington, D.C. National Park Service.

Panel Three
"God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a
conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is
just, that his justice cannot sleep forever. Commerce between master and slave is despotism. Nothing is more
certainly written in the book of fate than that these people are to be free. Establish a law for educating the
common people. This it is the business of the state and on a general plan."
ORIGINAL PASSAGES
"But let them [members of the parliament of Great Britain] not think to exclude us from going to other
markets, to dispose of those commodities which they cannot use, nor41 to supply those wants which they
cannot supply. Still less let it be proposed that our properties within our own territories shall be taxed or
regulated by any power on earth but our own.The god who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time:
the hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them." - "A Summary View of the Rights of British
America"[4]
"For in a warm climate, no man will labour for himself who can make another labour for him. This is so true,
that of the proprietors of slaves a very small proportion indeed are ever seen to labor. And can the liberties
of a nation be thought secure when we have removedtheir only firm basis, a conviction in the minds
of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his
wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot
sleep for ever . . . ." - Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII[5]
"The whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions,
the most unremitting despotismon the one part, and degrading submissions on the other. Our children see
this, and learn to imitate it. . . ." - Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII[6]
"Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than that these people are to be free. Nor is
it less certain that the two races, equally free, cannot live in the same government. Nature, habit, opinion has
drawn indelible lines of distinction between them." - Jefferson'sAutobiography[7]
"Preach, my dear sir, a crusade against ignorance; establish & improvethe law for educating the
common people." - Jefferson to George Wythe, August 13, 1786[8]
"It is an axiom in my mind that our liberty can never be safe but in the hands of the people themselves, and
that too of the people with a certain degree of instruction. This it is the business of the state to effect,
and on a general plan." - Jefferson to George Washington, January 4, 1786[9]

Panel Four
"I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand
in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new
discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of
circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. 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."
ORIGINAL PASSAGE
"I am certainly not an advocate for frequent and untried changes in laws and constitutions. I think
moderate imperfections had better be borne with; because, when once known, we accommodate ourselves to
them, and find practical means of correcting their ill effects. But I know also, that laws and institutions
must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed,
more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths disclosed, and manners and opinions
change with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also, and keep pace with
the times. 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." - Jefferson to H.

Tompkinson (AKA Samuel Kercheval), July 12, 1816[10]