“Never buy a what you do not want, because it is cheap; it will be dear to you.”
Thomas Jefferson
Letter to Thomas Jefferson Smith (Primary source)
Jefferson wrote to his young namesake offering heartfelt advice for life, emphasizing virtue, duty, self-reliance, and prudence. He included a “Decalogue of Canons”—practical maxims like never trouble another for what you can do yourself—as guidance for character and conduct.
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