"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal. . . ."
Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

"it is the great parent of science & of virtue: and that a nation will be great in both, always in proportion as it is free."
Thomas Jefferson to Joseph Willard, March 24, 1789

"our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost."
Thomas Jefferson to Dr. James Currie, January 28, 1786

"nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle."
Thomas Jefferson to John Norvell, June 11, 1807

"I, however, place economy among the first and most important republican virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared."
Thomas Jefferson to William Plumer, July 21, 1816