Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations. 1989.
NUMBER:
170
AUTHOR:
Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
QUOTATION:
I thought the work would be very innocent, and one which might be confided to the reason of any man; not likely to be much read if let alone, but, if persecuted, it will be generally read. Every man in the United States will think it a duty to buy a copy, in vindication of his right to buy, and to read what he pleases.
ATTRIBUTION:
THOMAS JEFFERSON, letter to N. G. Dufief, April 19, 1814.—The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Andrew A. Lipscomb, vol. 14, p. 128 (1904).
The letter concerned a new book by M. de Becourt, Sur la Création du Monde, which was potentially controversial, as it discussed topics of both a religious and a philosophical nature.
