“I shall often go wrong through defect of judgment.”

— Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address (4 March 1801)

About Thomas Jefferson

1743 – 1826

American statesman, principal author of the Declaration of Independence and third President of the United States.

“The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family.”

“I steer my bark with Hope in the head, leaving Fear astern.”

“The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest.”

“Remember that all is opinion.”

“Do not wait for the Last Judgment. It takes place every day.”

“Every judgment in science stands on the edge of error and is personal.”

“The truth is larger than any one man's thought of it.”

“Wherever she went, including here, it was against her better judgment.”

“Opinion is a light, vain, crude, and imperfect thing.”