No body wishes more than I do to see such proofs as you exhibit, that nature has given to our black brethren, talents equal to those of the other colors of men, and that the appearance of a want of them is owing merely to the degraded condition of their existence, both in Africa & America. Thomas Jefferson
About This Quote

This quote by Benjamin Banneker is a reminder that those who live in darkness can be as valuable as those who live in the light. Both need to be treated with dignity and respect. It is this idea of dignity and respect that makes Banneker's statement so powerful.

Source: Letters Of Thomas Jefferson

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More Quotes By Thomas Jefferson
  1. I had rather be shut up in a very modest cottage with my books, my family and a few old friends, dining on simple bacon, and letting the world roll on as it liked, than to occupy the most splendid post, which any human power...
  2. Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of Liberty.
  3. Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time, who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done, if we are always doing.
  4. The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.
  5. There is nothing more unequal than the equal treatment of unequal people.
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