“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
Declaration of Independence (Primary source)
The Declaration of Independence is America’s moment of resolve: a clear argument that people have rights, governments exist to protect them, and tyranny forfeits its authority. Part philosophy, part indictment, part breakup letter, it announces a radical idea—that legitimacy flows from the people, not power, and reshapes the modern world.
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“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
Thomas Jefferson
“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 Primary source“Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.”
— 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“Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst and cold.”
— Thomas Jefferson Primary sourceMore quotes by Thomas Jefferson →
“This Nation was founded by men of many nations and backgrounds. It was founded on the principle that all men are created equal, and that the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.”
— John F. Kennedy Primary source“The life of man is a self-evolving circle, which, from a ring imperceptibly small, rushes on all sides outwards to new and larger circles, and would embrace at last the universal sphere.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
— Abraham Lincoln Primary source“There was much wine, an ignored tension, and a feeling of things coming that you could not prevent happening.”
— Ernest Hemingway Primary sourceLife Liberty Happiness Freedom Politics Vision