“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”
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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“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“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 spend your money before you have it.”
— Thomas Jefferson Primary source“Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.”
— Thomas Jefferson Primary sourceMore quotes by Thomas Jefferson →
“That which each can do best, none but his Maker can teach him.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“’Tis a shame that your family is an honor to you! You ought to be an honor to your family.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“We ate well and cheaply and drank well and cheaply and slept well and warm together and loved each other.”
— Ernest Hemingway Primary source“Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source