Quote#Happiness
If, in my retirement to the humble station of a private citizen, I am…
Quote byThomas Jefferson · 1743–1826
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Post-Presidency (1809), Letter To the Republican Citizens of Washington county, Maryland ().
English (original)
If, in my retirement to the humble station of a private citizen, I am accompanied with the esteem and approbation of my fellow citizens, trophies obtained by the blood-stained steel, or the tattered flags of the tented field, will never be envied. The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government.
— Thomas Jefferson
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