Thomas Jefferson

"Convinced that the republican is the only form of government which is not eternally at open or secret war with the rights of mankind, my prayers & ample efforts shall be cordially distributed to the support of that we have so happily established. It is indeed an animating thought that, while we are securing the rights of ourselves & our posterity, we are pointing out the way to struggling nations who wish, like us, to emerge from their tyrannies also. Heaven help their struggles, and lead them, as it has done us, triumphantly thro' them."

-- Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), US Founding Father, drafted the Declaration of Independence, 3rd US President

Source: Letter to William Hunter, 11 March 1790

Reference:
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mtj:@field(DOCID+@lit(tj060021))
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Thomas.Jefferson.Quote.6FE0

COMMENT: A quote covering security, liberty (including freedom to worship) and religion - all are intertwined in a complex yet harmonic state.