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>I remember a quote from Thomas Jefferson that ended with something like >this .... "I would rather be with ....... than the poor and wretched >souls who know neither victory nor defeat." It was all about trying >hard and persevering in the face of opposition and an insurmountable >challenge. > >Is there any way to search your database of quotes with a few key words >to find this exact quote (and to find out the historical context)? >(Other words from parts of the quote are blood-soaked, battle, heart >....I can't quite shake all of the cobwebs loose, so this may not be >enough information.) The website can be searched using the Search facility, access to which is located on the front page, and on the contents page. For the historical context, it would be necessary to go to the source in one of the collections devoted to Jefferson's writings. The specific quote about which you ask is not in my collection, and I don't think I have ever seen it attributed to Jefferson. I recently completed going through the 20 volume set of the Memorial Edition of Jefferson's Writings, and I think I would have selected that quote if it were in that set. Of course, the Memorial Edition does not contain every word Jefferson wrote, so it may in fact be by Jefferson. I would tend to doubt that it is authentic Jefferson, but it is difficult to say. Unlike many of the quotations attributed to him, it is not antithetical to his style and general views. The following quote has somewhat the same spirit as the one you are seeking. "In the struggle which was necessary [in France], many guilty persons fell without the forms of trial, and with them some innocent. These I deplore as much as anybody, and shall deplore some of them to the day of my death. But I deplore them as I should have done had they fallen in battle." --Thomas Jefferson to William Short, 1793. ME 9:9