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>I am trying to determine whether a quote is from Thomas Jefferson. The >quote is something similar to: > >"The people would rather deal with familiar problems, than unfamiliar >solutions" > >Any assistance you can offer would be appreciated. I have not seen the quotation in the writings of Thomas Jefferson, and I doubt very much that it is by him. He was not given to writing aphorisms with contrasting sections, as in this example. In fact, I cannot recall a single example of a genuine Jefferson quote in that form. That was more the style of Benjamin Franklin in his "Poor Richard's Almanac." The closest Jefferson comes to that kind of statement is in a quote such as: "I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it." -- Thomas Jefferson to Archibald Stuart, 1791. ME 8:276 But to be in that contrasting form, it would have to be something like: I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to the oppressions attending too small a degree of it. But that just was not Jefferson's style. It is possible, of course, that I am wrong. I have not read every word that Jefferson has written, but I have carefully gone through the twenty volume set of his writings, The Memorial Edition, and I can say confidently that it is not in there (else I would have included it in my collection). Sorry I cannot be of more help. Best wishes, Eyler Coates