Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations. 1989.
Thomas Jefferson (17431826)
The desire to preserve our country from the calamities and ravages of war, by cultivating a disposition, and pursuing a conduct, conciliatory and friendly to all nations, has been sincerely entertained and faithfully followed. It was dictated by the principles of humanity, the precepts of the gospel, and the general wish of our country, and it was not to be doubted that the Society of Friends, with whom it is a religious principle, would sanction it by their support.
President THOMAS JEFFERSON, letter to Messrs. Thomas, Ellicot, and others, November 13, 1807.The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, ed. H. A. Washington, vol. 8, p. 118 (1871).