“Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe.”

“No government ought to be without censors; and where the press is free no one ever will.”

“The only security of all is in a free press.”

“The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.”

“The constitution of most of the states (and of the United States) assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed and that they are entitled to freedom of person, freedom of religion, freedom of property, and freedom of the press.”

“If, therefore, from the settlement of the Saxons, to the introduction of Christianity among them, that system of religion could not be a part of the common law, because they were not yet Christians; and if, having their laws from that period to the close of the common law, we are able to find among them no such act of adoption; we may safely affirm (though contradicted by all the judges and writers on earth) that Christianity neither is, nor ever was, a part of the common law.['Whether Christianity is Part of the Common Law?', letter to Dr. Thomas Cooper, from Monticello, February 10, 1814]”

“The equal rights of man, and the happiness of every individual, are now acknowledged to be the only legitimate objects of government.”