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About this quote

What does it mean?
Jefferson suggests that minimal government interference leads to the best outcomes for society.
In plain terms
Less government control is better for people.
What can you take from it?
Limit government intervention.

Where it applies

  • policy making
  • constitutional debate
  • civil liberty

Putting it to work

  • advocate deregulation
  • limit state power

Questions to consider

  • When does government help or harm?
  • How little is too little?

Another view

Minimal government may fail to address systemic issues.

More from Thomas Jefferson

  1. Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have ... The course of history shows that as a government grows, liber…

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  2. The Christian god can easily be pictured as virtually the same god as the many ancient gods of past civilizations. The Christian god is a three headed monster;…

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  3. Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.

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