"The mobs of the great cities add just so much to the support of pure government as sores do to the strength of the human body. It is the manners and spirit of a people which preserve a republic in vigor. A degeneracy in these is a canker which soon eats to the heart of its laws and constitution." | by: | Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), US Founding Father, drafted the Declaration of Independence, 3rd US President |
Source: | Notes on Virginia Q.XIX, 1782. ME 2:230 |
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