At 11:32 AM, 9 October 2002 +0200, Louis JOURDAN wrote: >At 13:24 -0600 02/10/8, Jim Elwell wrote: >>I'll quote Thomas Jefferson to close: >> >>"A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one >>another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own >>pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth >>of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government." > >Jim, > >I am preparing a paper on "moins d'�tat", i.e. less state intervention in >citizens' day to day life (not yet libertarian government !). > >Could you tell me the exact origin of this quotation? > >Many thanks
Louis: The quote is from Thomas Jefferson's First Inaugural Address in 1801. The exact quote is slightly longer: "Still one thing more, fellow-citizens �a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities." You can read the entire Address at http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres16.html. Jim
