I am satisfied, and sufficiently occupied with the things which are, without tormenting or troubling myself about those which may indeed be, but of which I have no evidence.

Thomas Jefferson
I am satisfied, and sufficiently occupied with the things which...
I am satisfied, and sufficiently occupied with the things which...
I am satisfied, and sufficiently occupied with the things which...
I am satisfied, and sufficiently occupied with the things which...
About This Quote

This is one of the most commonly cited examples of denial. The above quote is often cited in response to people who are highly superstitious, causing themselves great distress over events that may never occur, or that could not possibly happen. And, while no one can know for sure, that is not necessarily a bad thing.

Some Similar Quotes
  1. I like the scientific spirit–the holding off, the being sure but not too sure, the willingness to surrender ideas when the evidence is against them: this is ultimately fine–it always keeps the way beyond open–always gives life, thought, affection, the whole man, a chance to... - Walt Whitman

  2. Tell people there's an invisible man in the sky who created the universe, and the vast majority will believe you. Tell them the paint is wet, and they have to touch it to be sure. - George Carlin

  3. Religion is like a blind man looking in a black room for a black cat that isn't there, and finding it. - Anonymous

  4. My desire and wish is that the things I start with should be so obvious that you wonder why I spend my time stating them. This is what I aim at because the point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as not... - Bertrand Russell

  5. Skepticism is thus a resting-place for human reason, where it can reflect upon its dogmatic wanderings and make survey of the region in which it finds itself, so that for the future it may be able to choose its path with more certainty. But it... - Immanuel Kant

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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