10 Thomas Jefferson Quotes…. That Are Totally Fake

#1. “My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.”

We limited government types love to quote this one, but Jefferson never said it. Monticello’s website lists the earliest known appearance as being printed in 1913 by John Sharp Williams. They think that the reason people quote this is because Jefferson said something similar in a letter on June 14th, 1807: “History, in general, only informs us what bad government is.”

Williams wrote the quote referring to Jefferson, and it’s been wrongly attributed to him ever since. We wish he said it though, cause it’s pretty cool.

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