Thomas Jefferson/misquotes

page type::subpage thing type::misquotes

Misquoting Thomas Jefferson seems to be a popular pastime on both sides of the political spectrum. Some things Jefferson did not say but which are widely attributed to him include the following:

Democracy
A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.
 * 2007-08-15 Rove's 'Mob' Remark: An Age-Old Social Slur: "The esteemed founder never said it. The folks at Monticello's research library witheringly say that old saw has been dogging him for years."

Attributions:
 * Bevin Chu, on LewRockwell.com
 * Thinkexist.com (index of quotations)
 * 2008-12-31 Meltdown 2011: We're a Republic, NOT a Democracy

Government
"A government big enough to give you everything you need, is a government big enough to take away everything that you have...." – Monticello has not found this anywhere in Jefferson's writings

Gun Laws
Laws that forbid the carrying of arms... disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed one.
 * attributed to Jefferson: Infowars
 * not actually said by Jefferson: Monticello

Religion

 * /Christianity "...I do not find in our particular superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature...": a quote with two versions

Social Welfare
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. I can't find a definitive statement that he did not say this, but it's not in any of the reliable collections and nobody cites a source for it.

Attributions:
 * Democracy Is Not Freedom (sidebar)
 * Sovereignty Colorado