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> I wanted to ask about this quotation, > which I've seen in print and on the web several times: > > "The end of democracy, and the defeat of the American Revolution > will occur when government falls into the hands of the lending > institutions and moneyed incorporations." > - Thomas Jefferson > > I believe I've seen it with "banking institutions" instead of "lending > institutions" on at least one occasion. Do you know if this is an actual > Jefferson quote, and if so, where it appeared? I searched through your > quote collection at virginia.edu and couldn't find it, though I did find > some similar sentiments expressed (such as his comparison of banking > establishments to standing armies). I have carefully gone through the 20-volume set of Jefferson's writings (Memorial Edition), but have never seen that quotation. That doesn't necessarily mean it is not by Jefferson, since the Memorial Edition does not include everything he wrote. But it looks doubtful to me. It just doesn't sound like Jefferson. It has an air of imprecision about it that is certainly not typical of a brilliant mind like Jefferson's. The phrase, "the defeat of the American Revolution," is an example. Given all the rest, it would not be "the defeat of the American Revolution," but more precisely the defeat of what the next generation's fathers achieved by the American Revolution. The American Revolution is a completed past event, and to speak afterward of its subsequent defeat is an imprecise way of thinking about it. Such a lack of precision is highly unlikely to come from Jefferson. Similar analysis could be made on each one of the other phrases. Government could not be expected to "fall into the hands of" any business institutions, but at most to fall under their influence. It all looks like the work of a lesser mind than Jefferson's to me. But of course, as Jefferson himself said, "The proof of a negative can only be presumptive." I have not read every word that Jefferson wrote, and it is remotely possible that the quote exists somewhere. But I doubt it very much, especially since those who repeat it are unable to provide a source.