I think myself that we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious. - Thomas Jefferson

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Engraved portrait of Thomas Jefferson, facing right

I think myself that we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious.

English
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About Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson (13 April 1743 – 4 July 1826) was author of the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (1777), founder of the University of Virginia (1819), the third president of the United States (1801–1809), a political philosopher, editor of Jefferson's Bible (1819), and one of the most influential founders of the United States.

Biography information from Wikiquote · Portrait adapted from Wikimedia Commons, Rembrandt Peale (Public domain / CC0)

Also Known As

Alternative Names: President Jefferson T. Jefferson

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Additional quotes by Thomas Jefferson

May it be to the world, what I believe it will be, (to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all), the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government.

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