“For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it.”
Thomas Jefferson
Jefferson’s line is a concise statement of intellectual courage. It argues that truth is not something to be protected from scrutiny, but something revealed through it. Error, in this view, is not the enemy; suppression is. As long as reason remains free to question, challenge, and test ideas, truth will ultimately prevail.
Context of the Quote
Jefferson wrote this in 1820 while discussing his plans for a new university in Virginia. He envisioned an institution unlike the rigid, doctrine-bound schools of the era—one grounded in free inquiry rather than religious or political orthodoxy. The quote reflects Enlightenment values and Jefferson’s belief that education should cultivate independent thinkers, not obedient ones.
Application of the Quote
In personal life and career, the quote encourages openness over defensiveness. It invites readers to follow evidence even when it disrupts comfort, tradition, or ambition. Practically, this means welcoming criticism, changing course when facts demand it, and allowing disagreement without fear. Growth—intellectual or professional—depends less on being right than on staying curious, honest, and willing to revise long-held beliefs.
Letter to William Roscoe (Primary source)
In this letter to William Roscoe, Jefferson outlines his vision for a new university in Virginia—one that would become the University of Virginia—founded on free inquiry and intellectual freedom, where truth is pursued without fear and error is tolerated so long as reason can confront it.
More about “Letter to William Roscoe” →
“This institution will be based on the illimitable freedom of the human mind. For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it.”
Thomas Jefferson
“Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst and cold.”
— Thomas Jefferson Primary source“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.”
— Thomas Jefferson Primary source“Never buy a what you do not want, because it is cheap; it will be dear to you.”
— Thomas Jefferson Primary source“Never spend your money before you have it.”
— Thomas Jefferson Primary sourceMore quotes by Thomas Jefferson →
“That I am a foreigner is not my fault. I would rather have been born here.”
— Ernest Hemingway Primary source“Learning never exhausts the mind.”
— Leonardo da Vinci Disputed“A long life may not be good enough, but a good life is long enough.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Without contraries is no progression. Attraction and repulsion, reason and energy, love and hate, are necessary to human existence.”
— William Blake Primary sourceTruth Reasoning Curiosity Courage